Lululemon Athletica’s (LULU) “Underperform” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a report released on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $220.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential downside of 31.39% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $350.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. 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 report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on Lululemon Athletica from $263.00 to $261.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Lululemon Athletica from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.03.

Lululemon Athletica Stock Performance

NASDAQ LULU traded up $1.14 on Monday, reaching $320.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 839,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,428. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.01. Lululemon Athletica has a twelve month low of $226.01 and a twelve month high of $516.39. The stock has a market cap of $39.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The apparel retailer reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.22. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 42.59%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lululemon Athletica

In other Lululemon Athletica news, insider Nicole Neuburger sold 486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.59, for a total value of $131,020.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,918.82. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Calvin Mcdonald acquired 4,000 shares of Lululemon Athletica stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $260.00 per share, with a total value of $1,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,922 shares in the company, valued at $23,379,720. This trade represents a 4.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lululemon Athletica

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LULU. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 101.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,367 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,863,000 after acquiring an additional 15,279 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 148.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 8,217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Lululemon Athletica by 61.5% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Lululemon Athletica by 105.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 255 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 3.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.