LULU has more than doubled year-to-date
Yoga apparel concern Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) is set to open at a fresh record high, after receiving no fewer than three price-target hikes from analysts early this morning. Specifically, Cowen and Company, Wedbush, and B. Riley all hiked their respective price targets to $185, $176, and $155.
Today's analyst attention is far from unusual for Lululemon stock. The athletic wear name received a minimum of one upgrade and five price-target hikes in September alone, and a myriad of similar bullish attention in August. Currently, 15 of the 27 covering firms sport "strong buy" recommendations on the stock.
LULU has been in a long-term uptrend on the charts, with a line of support stemming from the 50-day moving average since late last year. The shares recently saw a post-earnings bull gap on Aug. 31, and have more than doubled year-to-date, closing Monday at $161.64.
Digging deeper, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows Lululemon stock with a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.24, ranking in the 74th annual percentile. This indicates that over the past 10 weeks of trading, calls have been purchased over puts at a faster-than-usual clip.
Lastly, the security sports a Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 92 out of 100, which shows the stock has tended to make larger-than-expected moves on the charts compared to what the options market had priced in. In simpler terms, now may be an opportune time to speculate with near-term Lululemon Athletica options.