Investors Purchase Large Volume of Burlington Stores Put Options (NYSE:BURL)

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 9,113 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 262% compared to the average daily volume of 2,516 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BURL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Burlington Stores from $365.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Burlington Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Burlington Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Burlington Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Burlington Stores from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.76.

Key Stories Impacting Burlington Stores

Here are the key news stories impacting Burlington Stores this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Burlington posted Q1 EPS of $2.01, beating consensus by $0.24, while revenue of $2.86 billion also topped estimates. The company said sales rose 14.1% year over year, and it highlighted 14 consecutive quarters of double-digit EPS growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its full-year FY 2026 guidance to EPS of $11.45-$11.80 versus consensus near $11.23, suggesting management sees continued momentum in demand and profitability. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter guidance also came in above expectations, with EPS guidance of $2.05-$2.20 versus consensus around $1.92, reinforcing confidence in near-term earnings power. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the strong report, the stock is reacting negatively, and unusually heavy put option volume suggests some traders are positioning for more downside or volatility after the earnings release. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management noted value-seeking consumer behavior helped drive results, but investors may still be watching margin pressures and execution on growth initiatives, including new store openings, for the rest of the year. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Burlington Stores

In other Burlington Stores news, COO Travis Marquette sold 3,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.75, for a total transaction of $1,232,012.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 26,350 shares in the company, valued at $8,636,212.50. This represents a 12.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burlington Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Burlington Stores by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,782,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,726,070,000 after buying an additional 232,358 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,828,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,122,000 after purchasing an additional 386,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,184,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,872,000 after purchasing an additional 26,529 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 303,059.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,912,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,285,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,269,000 after purchasing an additional 653,718 shares in the last quarter.

Burlington Stores Stock Performance

Burlington Stores stock opened at $300.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $319.83 and a 200-day moving average of $301.24. The firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.48. Burlington Stores has a 1-year low of $218.52 and a 1-year high of $351.85.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.24. Burlington Stores had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 41.37%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Burlington Stores’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Burlington Stores has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 11.450-11.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Burlington Stores will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

About Burlington Stores

Burlington Stores, Inc is an American off-price retailer that sells apparel and home goods at discounted prices. The company’s merchandise assortment includes clothing for women, men and children, plus baby products, footwear, accessories, beauty items, toys and home décor. Burlington’s merchandising strategy focuses on offering branded and private-label goods at lower prices than traditional department stores by sourcing excess inventory, closeouts and opportunistic buys from manufacturers and other retailers.

The business traces its roots to the Burlington Coat Factory name established in the early 1970s and has since evolved into a broader off-price retailer that carries a wide range of seasonal and everyday merchandise.