e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• e.l.f. Beauty's stock reached a new 52-week high of $150.90 after Bank of America upgraded its price target from $135.00 to $160.00, maintaining a buy rating.
• Analyst ratings for e.l.f. Beauty vary, with two firms assigning a Strong Buy rating, while nine have a Buy rating, resulting in a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $133.40.
• Insiders have sold a significant amount of stock recently, with total insider sales exceeding $19 million over the last ninety days, indicating volatility and potential profit-taking amid rising stock prices.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $160.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. e.l.f. Beauty traded as high as $150.90 and last traded at $149.43, with a volume of 285727 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $143.28.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ELF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of e.l.f. Beauty from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $110.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective (up previously from $140.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott Milsten sold 55,581 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $7,478,979.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 112,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,125,351.36. The trade was a 33.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kory Marchisotto sold 13,515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.10, for a total transaction of $1,893,451.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 144,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,284,798.80. The trade was a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 184,745 shares of company stock valued at $25,613,238 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of e.l.f. Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Caas Capital Management LP increased its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 1,466.7% during the first quarter. Caas Capital Management LP now owns 4,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 42.0% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 103,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,482,000 after buying an additional 30,530 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 165.6% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 9,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the 1st quarter worth $21,650,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 82.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.71.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $353.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $348.99 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 16.36% and a net margin of 7.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare.