Nordstrom Downgraded To Hold From Buy At Stifel

Shares of Nordstrom, Inc. fell 1% in premarket trade Tuesday after the stock was downgraded to hold from buy at Stifel. The analysts said they believe holiday sales will be weaker than anticipated, which would also mean a "challenging start" to 2017. They cut their target price to $40 from $62. Nordstrom's anticipated sales weakness was a result of poor sales across retail in general, the analysts wrote. "We believe that the highly competitive environment for retail is pressuring traffic, sales and margins, and we do not anticipate this trend to abate in the near term," the analysts wrote. The analysts said they have a favorable outlook for the retailer long term, but the current share price already reflects that. The analysts lowered their fourth-quarter 2016 EPS estimate to $1.13 from $1.18. Shares of Nordstrom have fallen 17% in the past three months, compared to the S&P 500's gain of 7%.