Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 26.200-27.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 26.800. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.7 billion-$11.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.8 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ULTA shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $574.00 to $627.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a $438.00 price objective (down previously from $585.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, April 19th. Loop Capital upgraded Ulta Beauty from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $630.00 to $610.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Ulta Beauty stock opened at $397.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty has a 12 month low of $368.02 and a 12 month high of $574.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $486.30 and its 200-day moving average is $470.17.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 EPS for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to purchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ulta Beauty news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.