Children’s Place (PLCE) and Target both look good to me, says Karen Finerman.

Ezra Dabah, a director of the company and its former chairman and chief executive, is nominating three candidates for election to the board at the annual meeting, and is suggesting that one of his candidates also be appointed as CEO, replacing the interim chief executive.

Hold - Price 36.37 on Aug. 12
by Wedbush Morgan

PLCE reported disappointing July sales. Our new F08 [earnings-per-share] outlook is $1.85, versus...consensus $1.87. Although [PLCE's] value proposition may be appealing in a difficult macro environment, we...view the shares as fairly valued. Applying a price/earnings multiple of 16 times to our new F09 EPS estimate of $2.39, we derive our 38 target. Market cap: $1.1 billion.

3 Stocks I Saw on TV
Dan Fitzpatrick examines three stocks viewed on Fast Money. Today's stocks include Citigroup, Children's Place and Urban Outfitters.

Click here to watch the video.

Karen Finerman agrees with Adami and adds Children’s Place (PLCE) is a buy, because no matter how bad the economy gets, parents will probably spend on their kids.

3 Stocks I Saw On TV
Dan Fitzpatrick examines three stocks viewed on Fast Money. Today's stocks include Children's Place, Western Digital and Costco.

Click here to watch the video.

Icahn

Thinking of dumping

Downgraded by Susquehanna Financial from Positive to Neutral

From Barron's 5-21-07

"Children's Place reported first-quarter results of 44 cents a share, assuming 30 million diluted shares, which compares with recent guidance of 40-42 cents. Our estimate was 41 cents. Included in the reported number and guidance was five cents in expense, tied to [an] ongoing option investigation. In its release, PLCE provided an update on its discussions with Disney (DIS) which are nearing a conclusion. Modifications to this agreement are likely, including a commitment to renovate or upgrade a substantial number of stores over a five-year period, with $175 million expended for this purpose. We believe this announcement suggests progress toward resolution is at hand, which alleviates some of the pressure on the shares. On its call, management reaffirmed its yearly guidance of $3.45-$3.55 a share. Although the first-quarter results were above our estimate, we are maintaining our yearly projections at $3.50 and $4.34 for FY07 and FY08, while increasing our second-quarter loss estimate to 60 cents a share, from 50 cents previously. Our $78 target [implies that] the shares trade at 18 times our forward estimate."