Bank of America Merrill Lynch Has Buy On Macy's

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is out with a research report on Macy's M after it reported earnings yesterday. It has a Buy rating and a $35 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "Macy's reported 2Q11 EPS of $0.55, above our $0.49 estimate on better gross margin and SG&A leverage than we anticipated. We are estimating comps to increase 4% in 2H11, which is in line with guidance of 4.0-4.5%. Macy's should continue to benefit from its localization initiative, online sales, newly trained store associates, omnichannel strategy and continued strength at Bloomingdales. We are raising our F2011 and F2012 EPS estimates by $0.09 and $0.04 to $2.64 and $2.89, respectively." Shares of M lost 92 cents yesterday to close at $24.52, a loss of 3.6%.