L Brands (LB) Stock Price Target Slashed at Nomura

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of L Brands (LB) - Get Report are down by 1.8% to $69.25 on Friday afternoon, as Nomura reduced its price target to $65 from $72 and maintained its "neutral" rating on the stock.

Nomura re-estimated its price target this morning after L Brands reported April 2016 sales that missed analysts' expectations on Thursday.

The specialty retail giant, which owns big-name brands such as Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, reported sales of $2.61 billion for April, up from the 2015 April sales of $2.51 billion, but below analysts' expectations of $2.67 billion. Same-store sales for April 2016 increased on a year-over-year basis by 3%, but came in under expectations of a 3.9% growth.

Victoria's Secret faced some "nuances" in April such as "an abuse of a promotional loophole" and a "weakness in the core lingerie category," which contributed to L Brands' lower-than-expected April sales results, Nomura analysts said in an investor note.

At the same time the company's management is restructuring its focus on categories and promotional methods and is "clearly juggling many things now," the firm stated.

L Brands will release its earnings for the 2016 first quarter on May 18, the company is expecting earnings between 50 cents and 55 cents per share.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rate L Brands as a "hold" with a score of C+.

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon.

Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author. TheStreet Ratings has this to say about the recommendation:

The primary factors that have impacted this rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, revenue growth and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, TheStreet Ratings finds that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: LB