Jefferies Maintains a 'Hold' on Home Depot (HD); Expecting Home Improvement Sales Softness in Q2

Jefferies maintains a 'Hold' on Home Depot (NYSE: HD) price target of $48.00 (from $46.00).

Analyst, Daniel Binder, said, "We are maintaining our Hold ratings on the shares of HD and LOW ahead of 2Q earnings but still prefer Home Depot to Lowe’s despite the 22% P/E valuation gap that exists. We believe the market fairly reflects the fact that HD continues to outperform on the sales and EBIT lines and the greater likelihood of downside risk at Lowe's (NYSE: LOW)."

Q2 EPS estimate maintained at $0.97, Q2 EPS for LOW's lowered from $0.72 to $0.67. FY13 EPS estimate maintained at $2.89, LOW's lowered from $1.77 to $1.71.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Home Depot click here. For more ratings news on Home Depot click here.

Shares of Home Depot closed at $53.06 yesterday.

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