New York, NY, January 3, 2007--Home Depot was upgraded by Raymond James to strong buy from outperform on the belief that 2007 will be a "better year" than 2006 for the home improvement retailer, as the worst appears to have passed for the housing market.
Analyst Budd Bugatch also raised his 12-month stock price target to $50 from $47. "We are increasingly convinced that through year-over-year comparisons in housing turnover passed in the third or fourth quarters of calendar year 2006," Bugatch said in a research note. "While housing comparisons will likely continue to be negative, we expect the rate of decline will be sequentially less negative through 2007."
He also said corporate governance issues, such as management pay and director accountability, are fading.
