Saturday, 19 December 2009

Modern Furniture Brands Shares Climb on Upgrade

Furniture Brands International Inc. saw its shares jump in trading Thursday afternoon after Credit Suisse analyst upgraded the stock valuation.

Furniture maker shares advanced $ 1.22, or 5.7 percent, to $ 22.57 on the New York Stock Exchange, as trading volume more than double the daily average shares. Shares have traded in a 52-week range of $ 16.07 to $ 25.34.

In a note to investors, Credit Suisse analyst Ivy L. Zelman noted the stock has fallen 9 percent since January, dipping below the fair value of $ 22 per share. Zelman upgraded the stock from "underperform" to "neutral," even if the stock underperformance compared with 8 percent of the industrial sector and sluggish trends.

"While we still expect the retail environment to remain challenging given rising interest rates and a slowing housing market, we believe that Furniture Brands' current assessment is more reflective headwinds after the recent slide of this."

Zelman expects the stock to reach $ 24 within a year. He asserted himself per share estimate of $ 1.61 for the year 2006 and $ 1.90 for the year 2007.

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