Oppenheimer Comments On Home Depot Following Share Repurchase Announcement

Oppenheimer looks very favorably upon the announcement from Home Depot HD last night that the company will issue debt and repurchase more of its stock. Sales trends at HD have stabilized and begun to improve over the past several quarters. The chain remains in the early stages of recovery. Oppenheimer interprets the company's decision to further tweak its capital structure as a signal that management expects recent top line improvements to prove sustainable and a reminder of HD's commitment to aggressively return excess cash to shareholders. In Oppenheimer's view, HD represents one of the most interesting investment opportunities among large cap hardlines for 2011. Oppenheimer has a $45 PT and Outperform rating on HD HD closed Monday at $36.65