JC Penney stock (JCP) is down 1.5% pre-market following a JCP stock downgrade to “Underperform” by Wells Fargo.
JC Penney stock was previously at Market Perform.
The company has been facing tough times — with death cries being heralded weekly from some who consider the stock on its way down.
Consider the gain on Friday that fell away yesterday as shares fell 37 cents, or 3.8%, to close at $9.36 on Monday.
Maxim Group analyst Rick Snyder noted that JCP stock was likely too high already.
We cannot justify current share prices on any meaningful valuation measure, even looking out several years. First quarter comps and gross margin improved resulting in positive momentum. We expect the positive momentum to continue into the second quarter. However, this momentum could stall as back half comp compares get much more difficult.
At the same time, others aren’t so sure of all the doom and gloom news surrounding Penney.
As InvestorPlace noted recently, JCPenney increased its online sales by 25.7% to $273 million, or 9.7% of overall revenue.
And there are a host of other reasons why some expect the company to rebound — the most notable being the company pushing in the right direction after a series of missteps over the years.
Also yesterday, JCP filled in some of the blanks on its $2.35 billion loan: The loan is for five years with lead banks Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J.P Morgan Chase, Barclays and Goldman Sachs.
The current balance on the existing loan is $650 million.
