UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Zumiez as Stock is Well-Positioned for 2014 and the Long-Term

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Paul Alexander upgraded the rating on Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) from Neutral to Buy, and raised the price target from $28.00 to $29.00.

In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading Zumiez to Buy from Neutral, as the company appears well positioned for long term growth, and as a recent pullback in the shares has caused valuation to drop near historical lows and below the group average (14x versus peers at 16x). We think the current valuation discount is unwarranted as we expect Zumiez to grow earnings faster than its specialty retail peers (13.5% over 2014-2015 versus 11.5% for the group) through consistent new store expansion and ecommerce growth. We also expect Zumiez's business to be resilient in the near term, as evidenced by solid November comps. We are increasing our F2014 EPS estimate by $0.05 to $1.72 to reflect a solid Holiday season and good execution next year, and are raising our price objective to $29 to reflect our new estimates.”

Zumiez closed on Thursday at $24.72.