Best Buy Stock Upgraded To Strong Buy At Raymond James

Improvements to Best Buy Co. Inc.'s inventory productivity and outlook led analysts at Raymond James to upgrade the stock to strong buy from market perform with a $40 price target. Raymond James analyst Dan Wewer said in a note that Best Buy's "company-specific" improvements are beginning to offset the inherent challenges facing the consumer electronics industry, and he expects this to create an opportunity for better-than-expected earnings through 2016. Wewer said that he's excited by the profit growth from share buybacks, the company's potential for revenue growth and improved outlook for the international segment. "We anticipate the valuation of its stock will rise--reaching 14.2x our 2016 EPS estimates, above [Best Buy's] three-year historical average of 12.2x and lower that its three-year high of 17.6x," Wewer wrote. Shares of Best Buy are down more than 15% in the year to date, while the S&P is down more than 9%