Brokerages Set Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) Target Price at $375.00

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $354.94.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LULU shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $440.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $416.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Securities upped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $375.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $470.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Lululemon Athletica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,847,954 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,847,103,000 after buying an additional 154,985 shares during the last quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% in the 2nd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,390,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630,466 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,096 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $528,429,000 after acquiring an additional 82,731 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,547,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $791,371,000 after acquiring an additional 14,112 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,139,812 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $445,268,000 after acquiring an additional 18,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.20% of the company’s stock.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

Lululemon Athletica stock opened at $259.47 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $270.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $336.76. Lululemon Athletica has a one year low of $226.01 and a one year high of $516.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.26.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.69% and a net margin of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. Lululemon Athletica’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica will post 13.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Lululemon Athletica Company Profile

Lululemon Athletica Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel, footwear, and accessories under the lululemon brand for women and men. It offers pants, shorts, tops, and jackets for healthy lifestyle, such as yoga, running, training, and other activities. It also provides fitness-inspired accessories.