Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BURL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Burlington Stores from $258.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Burlington Stores from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Burlington Stores from $274.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Burlington Stores from $212.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Burlington Stores in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $294.94.

Burlington Stores Stock Performance

NYSE:BURL opened at $268.24 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $252.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.84. Burlington Stores has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $282.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.61.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Burlington Stores had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 47.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Burlington Stores will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.37, for a total value of $126,152.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 61,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,809,190.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Burlington Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Burlington Stores by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 663,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,246,000 after purchasing an additional 14,080 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Burlington Stores by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 21,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,040,000 after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 0.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Burlington Stores by 22.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. Finally, Scientech Research LLC raised its position in Burlington Stores by 181.4% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter.

About Burlington Stores

Burlington Stores, Inc operates as a retailer of branded merchandise in the United States. The company provides fashion-focused merchandise, including women's ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, footwear, accessories, toys, gifts, and coats, as well as baby, home, and beauty products.