UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades Home Depot; Raises PT

According to a research report published earlier today, Piper Jaffray has upgraded The Home Depot

from Neutral to Overweight, and has increased PT from $47 to $62. In the report, Piper Jaffray commented, "We are upgrading shares of HD to Overweight and increasing our price target to $62 as a result of positive findings in our home improvement survey that suggest a home remodeling cycle is underway after years of project delays. Full details of the survey are published in an industry note today. In sum, we now believe the home improvement industry will grow at a faster rate than GDP for at least 2012 and 2013. We expect HD will see a healthy contribution margin on a 4% comp growth rate, with plenty of opportunities to increase gross margin and free cash flow. In addition to a healthy Spring selling season, we also expect the company's analyst day in early June to be a positive catalyst as it will allow the company to put more granularity around longer-term operating initiatives." Home Depot closed Friday at $50.96.