Analyst Lifts Dress Barn's Price Target

NEW YORK (AP) — Recent market share gains, the pending acquisition of Tween Brands and an appealing stock price prompted an analyst to raise her price target for Dress Barn Inc. on Wednesday.

Samantha Panella of Raymond James said in a client note that the retailer's namesake and maurices stores have been picking up market share in the missy and teen sectors.

"We believe Dress Barn and maurices will continue to gain market share during the holiday season as we expect consumers will remain cautious with discretionary spending and continue to look for value, and in our opinion, that comes in the form of price and/or product," she wrote in a note to clients.

The pending acquisition of Tween Brands will also give Dress Barn access to 7- to 12-year-old girls and will likely add to earnings in 2011 if Tween's operating margin is above 3 percent.

Dress Barn agreed in June to purchase the operator of Justice stores in a transaction that includes the exchange of one share of Tween Brands for 0.47 shares of Dress Barn.

Panella increased the Suffern, N.Y.-based company's price target to $21 from $19 and maintained an "Outperform" rating.

Shares of Dress Barn rose 42 cents to $18.99 in afternoon trading after rising to a 52-week high of $19.07 earlier in the session.