lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: lululemon athletica has an average "Hold" rating from 33 covering research firms, with only a small number of buy recommendations. The average 12-month price target is about $203.80.
• The stock has fallen sharply: LULU opened at $119.14, near its 52-week low of $119.06 and far below its 52-week high of $340.25. It is also trading well under both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Recent earnings beat expectations: The company reported $5.01 EPS on revenue of $3.64 billion, topping analyst estimates on both metrics. Insiders have also been buying shares, including the company’s director and CEO.

Shares of lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-eight have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $203.8032.

Several brokerages have weighed in on LULU. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on lululemon athletica from $170.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on lululemon athletica from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded lululemon athletica from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on lululemon athletica from $203.00 to $161.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of lululemon athletica in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

lululemon athletica Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:LULU opened at $119.14 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.54. The stock has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.90. lululemon athletica has a 52-week low of $119.06 and a 52-week high of $340.25.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The apparel retailer reported $5.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.59 billion. lululemon athletica had a return on equity of 34.82% and a net margin of 14.22%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that lululemon athletica will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other lululemon athletica news, Director Charles V. Bergh acquired 6,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.20 per share, with a total value of $999,978.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $999,978. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andre Maestrini purchased 3,275 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $151.02 per share, with a total value of $494,590.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,892.02. This represents a 10.47% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of lululemon athletica

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 3.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,782,917 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,452,394,000 after purchasing an additional 521,915 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,049,911 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $631,526,000 after purchasing an additional 71,464 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of lululemon athletica by 28.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,200,552 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $391,544,000 after purchasing an additional 490,127 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of lululemon athletica by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,197,158 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $456,592,000 after acquiring an additional 59,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its stake in shares of lululemon athletica by 17.7% in the third quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,930,831 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $343,553,000 after acquiring an additional 290,614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.20% of the company's stock.

About lululemon athletica

lululemon athletica inc. is a design-focused athletic apparel company known for performance-oriented apparel, footwear and accessories. The company's product portfolio centers on technical apparel for yoga, running, training and everyday active lifestyle use and includes tops, bottoms, outerwear, underwear, bags and a growing footwear assortment. lululemon emphasizes fabric science and product innovation, marketing garments that blend performance features with lifestyle styling.

Products are developed in-house and produced through a network of third-party manufacturers.

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