Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating On VRA

Piper Jaffray is reiterating its Overweight rating on Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) shares heading into the annual ICR XChance conference and following a holiday season “that we believe was at least in line with plan.”

“Recent concerns about promotional activity and a discount on the Java Blue pattern are overblown, in our opinion, as a 40% off discount on retired patterns is consistent with last year and we recall from our pre-IPO diligence that Java Blue has been scheduled for a phase-out for some time,” Piper Jaffray writes.

“We continue to believe that VRA could achieve EPS in excess of $2.00 by FY13 if several key initiatives outperform expectations.”

Vera Bradley closed Friday at $33.00.