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

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 26.200-27.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS 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

Several brokerages have recently commented on ULTA. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Ulta Beauty from $665.00 to $595.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $656.00 to $635.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA opened at $397.39 on Monday. Ulta Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $368.02 and a fifty-two week high of $574.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $486.30 and its 200-day moving average is $470.17.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.49 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 61.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Ulta Beauty

In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total value of $11,027,870.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,523,936.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Catherine Ann Halligan sold 500 shares of Ulta Beauty stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.26, for a total transaction of $263,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,222.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.