Montecito Bank & Trust Raises Position in Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU)

Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,348 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Lululemon Athletica were worth $403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LULU. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lululemon Athletica in the fourth quarter worth about $1,114,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Lululemon Athletica by 202.8% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 9.7% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 34,709 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,077 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in Lululemon Athletica by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,874,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Lululemon Athletica by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,261 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,250,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. 85.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lululemon Athletica Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of LULU traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $259.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 978,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,340. Lululemon Athletica Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.01 and a 1-year high of $516.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $355.30.

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The apparel retailer reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.16. Lululemon Athletica had a return on equity of 42.64% and a net margin of 16.09%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. Lululemon Athletica’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lululemon Athletica Inc. will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lululemon Athletica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LULU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $457.00 to $338.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Lululemon Athletica from $420.00 to $384.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $415.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $550.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Lululemon Athletica from $515.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.26.

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.