The Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) share price has been a big ASX winner for a few years now. Investors in this ASX 200 retail stock have enjoyed stellar returns over almost any period you wish to analyse.
Year to date in 2024? 26.2%. The past 12 months? 14.5%. Today, the company is up 4.77% at $30.77 a share. But its long-term investors have benefitted the most, with the Lovisa share price up a compelling 205% over the past five years.
And even after the market carnage that we saw last week, today Lovisa shares remain around 8% below the all-time record high of $33.54 that we saw the company clock earlier this month
Check all of that out for yourself below:
But perhaps some investors are growing wary of the Lovisa share price at its current levels. After all, this company has enjoyed stunning growth, and today trades on what looks like a fairly lofty price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 45.9.
That's far higher than what most ASX retail shares trade on. JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH), for example, is currently asking a P/E ratio of 14.66. Even the well-regarded owner of Smiggle, Dotti and Peter Alexander – Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) – is presently sitting on a multiple of 17.36.
So is the Lovisa share price still a buy today?
Well, it seems more than one ASX expert thinks it is.
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ASX experts rate the Lovisa share price as a buy
Right off the bat, a report in The Australian today confirms that ASX broker Jefferies has rated Lovisa shares as a new 'buy'. Jefferies gave the company a 12-month share price target of $39. If realised, this would see investors enjoy a further upside of around 27.7% over the coming year. And that's not even including any dividend returns.
The report did not give any context for Jefferies' improved optimism over the Lovisa share price.
But we can also look at what another ASX expert has recently said.
As my Fool colleague James covered earlier this month, another ASX broker in Morgans has also recently given Lovsa a buy rating. Morgans recommends investors 'add' Lovisa shares at their current level. This ASX broker isn't quite as optimistic as Jefferies but still sees Lovisa shares at $35 each within the next 12 months.
Morgans is looking at Lovisa's international growth strategy, particularly towards China, to justify its optimism. It stated that Lovisa's plan to "enter mainland China in FY24, [is] paving the way for significant longer-term growth".
So it seems that there are plenty of ASX experts who reckon the best is yet to come for the Lovisa share price. Let's see if time proves them right.
