Ahead Of The Bell: Bed Bath & Beyond Downgraded

NEW YORK (AP) — An analyst lowered Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.'s rating Thursday, citing the stock price of the housewares retailer.

Gary Balter of Credit Suisse said in a client note that his downgrade was not related to the company's management or its quarterly earnings results.

Late Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond reported a second-quarter profit of 52 cents per share, which topped the 48-cents-per share forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates normally exclude one-time items.

Balter said the chain has performed well and expects it to continue to deliver a strong performance in the future, but he can't justify the current stock price. Bed Bath & Beyond's stock hit a fresh 52-week high of $40.23 on Wednesday. It is up 52 percent since the beginning of the year.

"This stock is becoming expensive relative to Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., O'Reilly Automotive Inc., Lowe's Cos. and a few other names with similar or better longer term growth prospects," he wrote.

Balter cut Union, N.J.-based Bed Bath & Beyond to "Neutral" from "Outperform," but increased its price target to $41 from $35.