lululemon athletica's (LULU) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research reaffirmed its “buy” rating on lululemon athletica and set a $225 price target, implying about 71% upside from the previous close.
• The broader analyst view remains cautious overall, with multiple firms cutting targets and the consensus rating at “Hold”; the average price target is $201.66.
• lululemon recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while insider buying and heavy institutional ownership suggest some confidence in the stock despite recent volatility.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at BTIG Research in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 price objective on the apparel retailer's stock. BTIG Research's price target indicates a potential upside of 71.32% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on lululemon athletica from $206.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on lululemon athletica from $170.00 to $145.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded lululemon athletica from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on lululemon athletica from $210.00 to $176.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $201.66.

lululemon athletica Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LULU opened at $131.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $145.65 and a 200 day moving average of $171.83. lululemon athletica has a 12 month low of $116.63 and a 12 month high of $340.25.

lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The apparel retailer reported $5.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.78 by $0.23. lululemon athletica had a return on equity of 34.82% and a net margin of 14.22%.The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.14 earnings per share. lululemon athletica's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that lululemon athletica will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andre Maestrini purchased 3,275 shares of lululemon athletica stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $151.02 per share, for a total transaction of $494,590.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 34,551 shares in the company, valued at $5,217,892.02. This trade represents a 10.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles V. Bergh purchased 6,090 shares of lululemon athletica stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.20 per share, with a total value of $999,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $999,978. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On lululemon athletica

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 grew its position 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. grew its position 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 grew its position in lululemon athletica by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,197,158 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $456,592,000 after buying an additional 59,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in lululemon athletica during the fourth quarter worth about $362,598,000. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More lululemon athletica News

Here are the key news stories impacting lululemon athletica this week:

• Positive Sentiment: lululemon reached a cooperation agreement with founder Chip Wilson, ending a prolonged proxy fight and adding two of his preferred nominees plus another apparel-experienced director to the board. The truce reduces governance uncertainty ahead of the CEO transition and has been viewed as a stock-positive development. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction has been constructive to the settlement, with several reports noting a sharp move higher as investors welcomed the end of the founder feud and the prospect of a cleaner board structure. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a sizable post-earnings move of about 9.4% around the June 4 report, signaling that the stock could stay volatile as investors wait for fresh guidance and sales trends. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple earnings previews suggest Q1 results are likely to decline and may not deliver an easy beat, keeping attention on whether China, men’s, and digital growth can offset weak North America demand. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that softer North American demand and tariff pressures could squeeze margins, which is why some commentary remains cautious despite the board settlement. Article

lululemon athletica Company Profile

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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