	jc penney jcp up on smith barney opinion j c penney co s stock rose sharply after analyst william smith of smith barney recommended the stock based on the company s strong ings momentum and the possibility of a stock buyback dividend hike or stock split traders said i am very impressed with the strong basic ings story analyst smith said noting that the company has fine tuned its buying and inventories and has admirably controlled costs in a time that they needed to the stock jumped to smith said the company ended with a strong cash position of about mln dlrs as compared to mln dlrs the year before this implies the possibility of a share buyback or significant dividend increase or a stock split he said in addition he said the company has been gradually adjusting its merchandise mix and its gross margins have been improving smith expects the company to  to dlrs a share in as compared to the dlrs a share ed last year last year s results include a cent charge for the buyback of debt reuter 
