L Brands (NYSE:LB) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group from $64.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.24% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of L Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp restated a “sell” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of L Brands in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of L Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of L Brands from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $56.00 price objective on shares of L Brands and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. L Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.92.
L Brands (NYSE LB) traded down $0.80 on Tuesday, hitting $60.22. 1,548,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,199,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of -5.10, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.60. L Brands has a one year low of $35.00 and a one year high of $68.43. The company has a market capitalization of $16,998.01, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.80.
L Brands announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 18th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to purchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
In other news, Director David T. Kollat bought 9,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.34 per share, with a total value of $498,869.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 158,878 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,918.52. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 16.68% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LB. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in L Brands by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,257,392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,037,783,000 after purchasing an additional 256,464 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in L Brands by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,435,626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $885,716,000 after purchasing an additional 495,987 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in L Brands by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,403,917 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,558,000 after purchasing an additional 305,365 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in L Brands by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,388,390 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $559,827,000 after purchasing an additional 33,815 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in L Brands by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,156,510 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $172,952,000 after purchasing an additional 935,259 shares during the period. 78.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About L Brands
L Brands, Inc operates specialty retail business. The Company is focused on women’s intimate and other apparel, personal care, beauty and home fragrance categories. Its segments include Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works International. It sells its merchandise through company-owned specialty retail stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Greater China, which are mall-based; through Websites, and through international franchise, license and wholesale partners.
