UPDATE: Imperial Capital Assigns Underperform Rating to J.C. Penney Company, Lowers PT on Valuation

In a report published Monday, Imperial Capital analyst Mary Ross-Gilbert assigned an Underperform rating to J.C. Penney Company JCP, but lowered the price target from $17.00 to $11.00. In the report, Ross-Gilbert noted, “We are assigning an Underperform rating on the shares of JCP and a one-year price target of $11, down 35% from a recent price of $17.00. We think the stock will remain volatile with near-term trading potentially favored to the upside on short-covering (short interest is approximately 38% of the float), and anticipated favorable operating momentum in F2H13. We think the stock is likely ‘dead-money' over the next 12-24 months as it may take 2-4 years to restore ‘pre-Johnson' era profitability.” J.C. Penney Company closed on Friday at $17.00.