DA Davidson Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Key Points

• DA Davidson reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Ulta Beauty and set a $625 price target, implying approximately 14% upside from the reported $548.31 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $624.57, despite some firms recently lowering their targets.
• Ulta Beauty exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $6.55 in earnings per share versus the $6.22 estimate and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 8.9% year over year. Institutional investors own 90.39% of the company’s shares.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities research analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $625.00 price target on the specialty retailer's stock. DA Davidson's price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.99% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $475.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $700.00 to $630.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $685.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $624.57.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ULTA traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $548.31. The stock had a trading volume of 117,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,295. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.85. Ulta Beauty has a 1-year low of $443.60 and a 1-year high of $714.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $524.13.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.22 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 45.40% and a net margin of 9.34%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.78 earnings per share. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.700-29.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 28.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Ulta Beauty by 43,592.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 29,433,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $13,273,789,000 after buying an additional 29,365,845 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the second quarter valued at $1,815,712,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ulta Beauty by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,025,565 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,225,487,000 after acquiring an additional 50,305 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 52,171.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,474,042 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $77,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,222 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,240,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $747,587,000 after purchasing an additional 21,947 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc is a specialty beauty retailer operating under the Ulta Beauty brand. The company sells a broad selection of cosmetics, skincare, haircare, fragrance, bath and body products, and beauty tools across a range of price points. Its merchandise includes both established brands and private-label products, as well as prestige, mass-market and professional beauty offerings.

In addition to retail sales, Ulta Beauty provides services through salon locations within many of its stores, including hair, skin and brow services.

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