Lowe's downgraded to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Laura Champine downgraded Lowe's to Hold and lowered her price target for the shares to $99 from $125. The retailer closed yesterday down 3% to $91.56.

The analyst thinks she was previously too optimistic on Lowe's likely margin progression. She still expects the company's fiscal 2019 same-store-sales to rise 3%, but she believes Lowe's will need to be more promotional to achieve this. Further, the analyst expects industry demand to moderate this year.

Management's initiatives to drive sales will have a long-term payoff, "but we are not seeing significant progress in stores yet," Champine tells investors in a research note. As such, the analyst believe shares of Lowe's are reasonably priced at current levels.