Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) Shares Gap Up to $272.89

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $272.89, but opened at $282.00. Burlington Stores shares last traded at $269.79, with a volume of 242,516 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BURL. UBS Group boosted their price target on Burlington Stores from $212.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Burlington Stores from $284.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Burlington Stores from $275.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Burlington Stores from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Burlington Stores from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.94.

Burlington Stores Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.93, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.38. Burlington Stores had a return on equity of 46.39% and a net margin of 3.87%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. Burlington Stores’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Burlington Stores, Inc. will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Jennifer Vecchio sold 494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 61,907 shares in the company, valued at $15,809,190.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Burlington Stores

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Burlington Stores by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 313 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Burlington Stores by 9.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 648 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 61 shares during 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.