ISI Group Reiterates Hold, $29 PT on Lowe's Companies Post Q1 Results

ISI Group maintains its Hold rating and $29 price target on Lowe's Companies LOW. ISI Group says, "1Q EPS was in-line with expectations; gross margins were worse than expected offset by SG&A leverage. US comps were 2.7% vs our 5% (buy-side expectations were likely in the 4% range after the 6.1% comp HD reported). LOW's EPS of $0.44 was above the street at $0.42 and at our estimate of $0.45. 1Q was impacted by a 53rd week related calendar shift that allowed one additional Spring selling week; as a result sales grew 7.9% (+420bps from shift)." LOW closed at $28.48 on Friday.