BTIG Research started coverage on shares of J.C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP) in a research note issued on Thursday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the stock.

A number of other firms have also recently commented on JCP. Analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of J.C. Penney Company in a research note to investors on Monday. Separately, analysts at Northcoast Research upgraded shares of J.C. Penney Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, March 7th. They now have a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at S&P Equity Research cut their price target on shares of J.C. Penney Company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note to investors on Wednesday, March 6th. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.

Shares of J.C. Penney Company opened at 15.65 on Thursday. J.C. Penney Company has a 52 week low of $14.20 and a 52 week high of $37.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $18.81. The company’s market cap is $3.432 billion.

J.C. Penney Company last released its earnings data on Wednesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.95) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $1.78. The company had revenue of $3.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. J.C. Penney Company’s revenue was down 28.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that J.C. Penney Company will post $-1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (jcpenney), is a holding company. The Company is a retailer, operating 1,102 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico as of January 28, 2012.

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