UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Market Perform Rating, Lowers PT on Family Dollar Stores

In a report published Monday, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Market Perform rating on Family Dollar Stores

, but lowered its price target from $74.00 to $59.00. BMO Capital Markets noted, “FDO 1Q13 EPS print of $0.69 missed consensus estimates of $0.75; our $0.73 estimate and was at the low-end of guidance of $0.69-$0.78 on an unexpected 112bp decline in gross margin rate (Exhibit 8). The decline reflected a greater-than-expected mix shift toward lower-margin consumables as well as a decline in sales in higher-margin discretionary items. In addition, December comp-store sales growth slowed to 2.5% from the 1Q13's 6.6% on continued lower-than-expected discretionary sales.” Family Dollar Stores closed on Friday at $56.65.