What Wall Street Recommends for L Brands

What You Can Expect for L Brands in 2019 ## On the sidelines As of January 8, of the 29 analysts covering L Brands (LB) stock, 28% recommend a “buy” and 10% have a “sell” rating. 62% have retained their “hold” ratings for L Brands’ stock. L Brands is one of the leading names in the US intimate apparel space. The performance of its Bath & Body Works brand and Victoria’s Secret beauty line remains robust. However, weakness in its signature Victoria’s Secret and Pink lingerie businesses has kept investors and analysts worried. Given the troubles, L Brands’ stock was down 57.4% in 2018. As of January 8, the stock has gained 9.9%. It last closed trading at $28.20. In January so far, we’ve seen four price target changes for L Brands. On January 2, Wells Fargo slashed its price target to $50.00 from $55.00. Baird lowered its to $34.00. On January 7, UBS lowered its price target to $27.00 from $34.00. J.P. Morgan cut the price target to $29.00 from $34.00. At present, analysts’ 12-month average price target for L Brands stock is $34.98, which reflects 24.0% upside to the stock price on January 8. ## Ratings for other apparel retailers Of the 16 analysts covering Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), 25.0% have “buy” ratings while 44.0% have “hold” ratings. On January 2, Baird cut its price target on ANF to $22.00. Currently, analysts’ target price for ANF is $20.46, reflecting a potential 2.3% downside to the stock’s price as of January 8. For American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), 63.0% of the 16 analysts covering the stock have given it “buy” ratings while 25.0% have given it a “hold.” For American Eagle Outfitters, the mean target price is $23.80, which implies a potential 20.5% upside. On January 7, UBS reduced the price target to $28.00 from $31.00 earlier. Of the 25 analysts covering the Gap (GPS) stock, 12.0% have “buy” ratings while 76.0% have “hold” ratings. The Gap’s mean target price is $29.45, which indicates a potential 16.8% upside to its stock price. On January 7, UBS lowered its price target to $26.50 from $28.00. J.P. Morgan cut its price target to $24.00 from $25.00. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: * Part 2 - Comparing L Brands’ PE Multiple with Peers’ * Part 3 - Will L Brands’ Top-Line Performance Impress in 2019? * Part 4 - A Look at L Brands’ Margin and Bottom-Line Expectations