Piper Jaffray analyst Peter Keith upgraded Lowe's to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $130, up from $113. The company's fundamentals look poised for acceleration in the second half of 2019 and 2020, "yet expectations seem modest," Keith tells investors in a research note. The analyst's "extensive industry analysis" indicates the housing/home remodel backdrop will strengthen into the first half of 2020. Amidst this backdrop, Keith sees a path for accelerating comp growth and gross margin upside in 2020 for Lowe's. The stock's risk/reward looks "quite favorable," with over 40% upside potential versus 10% downside risk over the next 12 months, contends Keith.

Bullish option flow detected in Lowe's with 4,454 calls trading, 1.4x expected, and implied vol increasing over 1 point to 25.60%. Apr-24 240 calls and Sep-24 230 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 1,600 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.46. Earnings are expected on May 21st.