e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Shares Climb 5.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) were up 5.4% on Friday. The stock traded as high as $119.71 and last traded at $119.6060. Approximately 1,352,900 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 2,444,378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $123.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded e.l.f. Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Friday, October 30th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of e.l.f. Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.88.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 4.0%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.61. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $520.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $473.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 51.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.31, for a total value of $4,855,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,894,781.76. This represents a 25.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandy J. Fields sold 16,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.52, for a total transaction of $1,679,113.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 90,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,500,449.92. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 91,821 shares of company stock valued at $9,624,513 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of e.l.f. Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 132.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 68,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,896,000 after acquiring an additional 38,859 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,882,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,065,000 after buying an additional 7,397 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 3rd quarter valued at about $162,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the third quarter worth approximately $1,646,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth $9,772,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. is a beauty company that develops, markets and sells cosmetics and skin-care products. Its portfolio includes e.l.f. Cosmetics and e.l.f. SKIN, as well as brands such as Naturium, Well People and Keys Soulcare. Products include makeup, skin-care treatments and related beauty items. Founded in 2004, the company sells through its own websites and retail partners, including mass-market and specialty beauty stores. Its products are available in the United States and international markets.