Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) was downgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $300.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $415.00. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.34% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $509.00 to $457.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $490.00 to $404.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $521.00 to $463.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $475.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $525.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $416.26.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of LULU opened at $253.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $31.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $378.08. Lululemon Athletica has a 12-month low of $245.59 and a 12-month high of $516.39.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Lululemon Athletica had a net margin of 16.09% and a return on equity of 42.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lululemon Athletica will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LULU. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 19,890.3% during the 2nd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 4,653,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,390,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,630,466 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,692,969 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,955,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,119 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 51,219.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 688,196 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $351,868,000 after purchasing an additional 686,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica during the fourth quarter worth $236,378,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,046,011 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,815,000 after purchasing an additional 257,944 shares during the period. 85.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.