Mixed Analyst Coverage for Ollie’s as Quiet Period Expires

The underwriters for the offering are JPMorgan, Jefferies, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Piper Jaffray, KeyBanc Capital Markets and RBC.

The company calls itself a “highly differentiated and fast-growing, extreme value retailer of brand name merchandise at drastically reduced prices.” It offers customers a broad selection of products, including housewares, food, books and stationery, bed and bath, floor coverings, toys and hardware.

Mark Butler, the chairman, president and chief executive, co-founded Ollie’s in 1982, based on the idea that “everyone in America loves a bargain.” From the time Butler assumed his current position as president and CEO in 2003, Ollie’s has grown from operating 28 stores in three states to 187 stores in 16 states at the end of June 2015.

Here is how the underwriting firms’ analysts have initiated coverage of the company so far on Monday:

• JPMorgan started it as Overweight with a target price of $23.00.
• Jefferies started it as Buy with a $23 price target.
• Merrill Lynch started it as Neutral and gave a $22 price objective.
• Credit Suisse started Ollie’s as Neutral with a $20 price target.
• Piper Jaffray started it as Neutral with a $20 target.
• Keybanc Capital Markets started coverage at Overweight with a $24.00 price target.
• RBC started it as Outperform and with a $23 price target.

Shares of Ollie’s were down 2.5% at $19.45 midday Monday. The stock has a post-IPO trading range of $18.28 to $22.99.

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