(RTTNews) - Friday, FBR Capital Markets initiated coverage of Concur Technologies, Inc. (CNQR: News ) stock with an Outperform rating and a price target of $44.

Analyst David Hilal noted that Concur is a dominant player in the travel and expense, or T&E, management software business, with a significant lead over the competition because of its best-of-breed product offering, highly successful partnership ecosystem, and first-mover advantage.

The analyst said that despite a tough environment, Concur has continued to generate attractive bookings growth, post strong customer additions, and expand operating margins. In addition to making investments to expand sales capacity, Concur is in the early innings of a strategic partnership with American Express (AXP) that should further drive bookings growth.

The analyst added that Concur's unique billing model, combined with the stabilizing macroeconomic conditions, should alleviate some of the pressure on its existing customers and help accelerate new customer additions. The company's ramping American Express partnership, dominant position in the T&E market, and stabilizing macro conditions are the underlying reasons for our Outperform rating.
The analyst's price target of $44 represents 39x his 2011 pro forma EPS estimate and a P/E/G of 1.6x, a premium multiple to account for the company's dominant position and best-in-class profitability and revenue growth.

Currently, CNQR is up $2.70 or 7.37% and trading at $39.33.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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