Pier 1 Imports Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (DBRN.DL, JAS.DL, PIR)

Pier 1 Imports Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of retailer Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR ) rallied more than 10% on some positive commentary from a Wall Street analyst.

So what: Pier 1's current fiscal 2011 price-to-earnings multiple of 12 suggests that investors aren't overly bullish on the stock and probably don't buy into the 12.5% growth that Wall Street is expecting over the next five years. However, the optimistic comments from Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel -- who reiterated his outperform rating on expectations of a sales rebound -- appear to have investors reconsidering their position.

Now what: I recently put out a list of retailers such as Jo-Ann Stores (NYSE: JAS ) and Dress Barn (Nasdaq: DBRN ) that I thought could end up on the radars of private equity companies. I actually toyed with the idea of including Pier 1 on that list, as well. The company is just coming out of a disastrous period in which investors saw significant value go up in smoke, but the bottom line is definitely looking better, and the company has a very solid balance sheet. It's generally a bad idea to buy a stock simply because a Wall Street analyst recommends it, but this could be a good excuse for investors to take another look at Pier 1 shares.

Interested in more info on Pier 1? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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Fool contributor Matt Koppenheffer does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned. You can check out what Matt is keeping an eye on by visiting his CAPS portfolio, or you can follow Matt on Twitter @KoppTheFool or on his RSS feed. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. The Fool's disclosure policy assures you no Wookiees were harmed in the making of this article.

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