DJ L Brands Stock Jumps After Yet Another Upgrade. Why Some Analysts Say 'There Is Change Afoot.' -- Barrons.com
By Ben Walsh
For the second time this week, L Brands stock is rising thanks to an analyst upgrade.
Barclays' Adrienne Yih raised her rating on the struggling retailer's stock two notches straight to Overweight from Underweight in a note to clients Thursday.
L Brands stock (ticker: LB) rose 3.7% in Thursday trading in response. The stock has dropped 24% over the past 12 months, compared with a 26% gain for the S&P 500.
Earlier this week, L Brands rose after KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sector Weight on Tuesday. Yruma reasoned that the stock wasn't fully pricing in what he sees as the likely spinout of the poorly performing Victoria's Secret brand. That move, he argued, would unlock the value of the relatively better performing Bath & Body Works.
Barclays' Yih also thinks "there is change afoot." She writes: "There is meaningful upside to [L Brands] shares if either management or the activist announce measures to improve the business and unlock inherent asset value." Options that Yih thinks are realistic include monetizing real estate, cutting inventory or costs, repositioning their brands and, separating Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.
Like Yruma, Yih points out that Victoria's Secret's recent poor run will be an increasingly strong impetus for management to make some sort of a strategic move, especially "while Bath & Body Works has maintained peak operating margins north of 20%".
The bottom line, Yih reasons, "is the status quo is not an option...we believe value-enhancing strategies could come soon."
Write to Ben Walsh at ben.walsh@barrons.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 23, 2020 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)
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在又一次升級之後,DJL品牌股價上漲。為什麼一些分析人士説“正在發生變化”--Barrons.com
本·沃爾什
由於分析師的升級,L品牌的股價本週第二次上漲。
巴克萊銀行(Barclays)的艾德里安·伊(AdderenneYh)週四在給客户的一份報告中,將這家陷入困境的零售商的股票評級提高了兩個等級,
作為迴應,lBrands股價週四上漲3.7%。過去12個月,該股下跌了24%,而標準普爾500指數(S&P 500)則上漲了26%。
本週早些時候,在KeyBanc資本市場(KeyBanc Capital Markets)分析師EdwardYRuma週二將該股從板塊權重上調至增持後,L Brands上漲。尤瑪認為,這隻股票並沒有完全定價,因為他認為,這是表現不佳的維多利亞祕密(Victoria‘s Security)品牌可能剝離出來的產品。他認為,這一舉措將釋放性能相對較好的“沐浴工程”的價值。
巴克萊還認為,“正在發生變化。”她寫道:“這是有意義的。[L品牌]“如果管理層或維權人士宣佈了改善業務和釋放固有資產價值的措施,就可以選擇股票。”易認為現實的選擇包括:將房地產貨幣化、削減庫存或成本、重新定位品牌,以及將維多利亞的祕密(Victoria‘s Security)與浴體工程(Bath&Body Works)分開。
和尤瑪拉一樣,伊魯瑪也指出,維多利亞祕密最近的糟糕運營將越來越有力地推動管理層採取某種戰略舉措,尤其是“在巴斯和博體工程(Bath&Body Works)將運營利潤率維持在20%以上的同時”。
説到底,易的理由是,“現狀不是一種選擇.我們相信提升價值的策略可能很快就會到來。”
電子郵件:ben.walsh@barrons.com
(完)道瓊斯通訊社
2020年1月23日12:20(格林尼治時間17:20)
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