Could two longtime home-goods retail rivals possibly wind up on the same team? One analyst raises that possibility now that Edward Lampert, chairman of Sears Holdings, has bought shares in Home Depot.

On Wednesday, a regulatory filing disclosed that Lampert’s ESL Investments hedge fund bought 16.7 million shares, or about a 1 percent stake, in Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer.

“One can look at the investment as just a position in an underperforming, undervalued stock,” Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter said in a research note on Thursday. “However, things are never that simple with ESL.”

Balter goes on to say that there could be “significant synergies” should these companies, which currently compete against each other for appliance and tool customers, be allowed to partner.

“Imagine Home Depot getting Craftsman (tools) and Kenmore (appliances) into their 2,000 stores and Sears getting Ridgid (tools) into their mix,” Balter wrote. Craftsman and Kenmore are Sears brands, while Ridgid is sold at Home Depot.

Balter added that although a combination of these two was unlikely given ESL’s limited ownership as well as potential antitrust issues, he said the stock buy “should help focus investor attention” on Home Depot’s real estate value.

Lampert, who presided over the 2005 merger of Sears, Roebuck and Kmart, gained favor for making Kmart shareholders rich by selling real estate. He has been long rumored to have had an interest in Home Depot.

“We highly value all of our investors, but we don’t comment on specific transactions,” Home Depot spokeswoman Paula Drake said when asked about Lampert’s purchase.

Earlier this week, Home Depot reported a 27 percent fall in third-quarter profit and forecast a steeper fall in full-year earnings as the weak housing market hurt sales.

Photo: Reuters