UPDATE: BTIG Downgrades J.C. Penney

Analysts at BTIG downgraded shares of J.C. Penney JCP from Buy to Neutral Thursday, following achievement of price target.

Analysts view the recent performance of shares validates their original thesis, which was J.C. Penney had sufficient capital resources to avoid bankruptcy and preserve equity value.

Analyst Will Frohnhoefer stated, “Our move to neutral does not mean that we doubt that JCP will hew to the right path going forward, or that it will stop improving its sales and margins. It is simply based on valuation.”

J.C. Penney reported second quarter EPS of -$0.56, beating estimates of -$0.93 by 39 percent.

Shares were down 2.3 percent in Thursday's pre-market session.