** Shares of home improvement companies Home Depot HD.N and Lowe's LOW.N down ~1% at $363.54 and $228.57, respectively
** Brokerage Stifel cuts PT on both cos on weaker comparable sales performance and delayed home improvement category inflection
** Cuts Home Depot to $370 from $440, cuts Lowe's PT to $230 from $275
** Home improvement category is at best stagnant and potentially deteriorating ahead of difficult November/December comparisons-brokerage
** HD is set to report third-quarter results on November 18, followed by Lowe's on November 19
** YTD, as of last close, LOW and HD down 6% and 5%, respectively
(Reporting by Koyena Das in Bengaluru)
((koyena.das@thomsonreuters.com))