e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.0625.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ELF shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore started coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set an "inline" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $115.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $67.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded e.l.f. Beauty from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 24th.

e.l.f. Beauty Price Performance

NYSE ELF opened at $60.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.76. The business's fifty day moving average is $70.01 and its 200 day moving average is $80.94. e.l.f. Beauty has a fifty-two week low of $58.05 and a fifty-two week high of $150.99.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $489.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.78 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 6.84%.e.l.f. Beauty's quarterly revenue was up 37.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandy J. Fields sold 23,656 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $1,505,940.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,437 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,639.42. The trade was a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kory Marchisotto sold 23,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $1,514,853.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 152,417 shares in the company, valued at $9,702,866.22. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 210,013 shares of company stock valued at $13,315,490. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,487,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,255,000 after acquiring an additional 140,258 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,197,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,086,000 after acquiring an additional 711,540 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,737,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,095,000 after acquiring an additional 13,231 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,364,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,779,000 after acquiring an additional 672,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,319,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,337,000 after acquiring an additional 361,371 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Company Profile

e.l.f. Beauty NYSE: ELF is an American cosmetics company known for offering an extensive range of affordable, trend-driven makeup and skincare products. The company's portfolio spans foundations, lipsticks, mascaras, brushes, serums, masks and other beauty essentials, all positioned at accessible price points. e.l.f. Beauty maintains a direct-to-consumer platform through its e-commerce site and engages in widespread retail partnerships with major chains such as Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California, e.l.f.

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