Victoria's Secret Parent Slammed on Legal Buzz

L Brands has filed a complaint against Sycamore Partners for deal gone awry

Shares of L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) are down 1.5% to trade at $10.46, after receiving no fewer than four bear notes, including a downgrade out of Barclaysto "equal weight" to "overweight," and price-target cut to $10 from $30. This slam comes after news that L Brands filed a complaint against Sycamore Partners for backing out of a $525 million deal to acquire a majority stake in their lingerie brand, Victoria's Secret. The pandemic resides in the middle of the legal battle, with closures of the stores worldwide.

L Brands stock has been on a volatile run on the charts, of which, began following a steep double bear gap back in early March. This sent the shares to a bottom of $8 on March 17, with steady overhead pressure stemming from its 30-day moving average. In response, LB has shed 59.4% year-over-year.

Coming into today, 11 analysts sport a tepid "hold" rating, one carries a "sell," and the remaining six sport a "strong buy." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $17.17 is a 61.5% premium to current levels.

Short interest has started to fall off, down 5.6% in the last reporting period. However, the 19.63 million shares sold short still account for 8.6% of the stock's available float, and would take nearly two days to recover at LB's average pace of trading.