01/07 17:25 BancBoston Robertson Stephens
Upgrades General Nutrition to a BUY
<GNCI.O>
BancBoston Robertson Stephens Upgrades General Nutrition to a BUY
Rating
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by
BancBoston Robertson Stephens, a member of the National Association of
Securities Dealers, CRD number 41271:
BancBoston Robertson Stephens managing director and senior specialty
retailing analyst Janet Joseph Kloppenburg today upgraded General Nutrition
Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNCI) to a Buy rating from Long-Term Attractive.
General Nutrition, based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the largest vertically integrated
specialty retailer of nutritional supplements and other health and self-care
products in the United States and operates under the General Nutrition
Centers, Nature Food Centre, Health & Diet Centre, Nature's Fresh, GNC
Live Well and Amphora names, with 2,442 company owned and 1,290
franchised stores.
"We are raising our rating on General Nutrition based on the company's
recently announced strategic alliance with Rite-Aid, which enables GNC to
capitalize on its brand strength across new growth avenues, including a
relatively untapped Internet opportunity," said Kloppenburg. "We believe the
new distribution channels of the mass market coupled with Internet
exposure should drive considerable earnings per share upside to our current
estimates." |
