UPDATE: Nomura Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT on The Home Depot on Impressive Execution

In a report published Wednesday, Nomura reiterated its Neutral rating on The Home Depot

, and raised its price target from $63.00 to $70.00. Nomura noted, “The 5.1% gap stands as one of the wider margins in years. HD‟s execution remains impressive: it saw more storm-related lift and it rode an expanded presence and new brands to strong effect in appliances. LOW made progress during Q4 but remains in transition. LOW‟s adjusted traffic has improved despite muted top-line growth as GMs have stabilized. 1H 2012 saw HD outpace LOW in this adjusted metric by 3.2%. That narrowed to 1.4% and 1.1% in Q3 and Q4. Our HD EPS estimates are unchanged for 2013/14 at $3.60 & $4.15. However, they reflect a rebalancing within quarters to reflect stronger comp gains during Q2 and Q3 and more modest gains in Q1 and Q4.” The Home Depot closed on Tuesday at $67.56.