Royce & Associates LP Invests $5.25 Million in e.l.f. Beauty $ELF

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP opened a new position in e.l.f. Beauty in Q4, buying 69,000 shares worth about $5.25 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 92.44% of the company’s shares. Several firms, including Vanguard and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, increased their stakes.
• e.l.f. Beauty posted a strong recent quarter, with EPS of $0.32 topping estimates and revenue of $449.29 million, up 35.1% year over year. Despite this, insider selling has been notable, including sales by CEO Tarang Amin and insider Kory Marchisotto.

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 69,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,247,000. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.12% of e.l.f. Beauty at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,487,304 shares of the company's stock worth $417,255,000 after purchasing an additional 140,258 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 1,967.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,253 shares of the company's stock worth $11,805,000 after purchasing an additional 147,745 shares in the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 188,924 shares of the company's stock worth $14,366,000 after purchasing an additional 48,504 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 138,082.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 276,364 shares of the company's stock worth $21,015,000 after purchasing an additional 276,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tran Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Tran Capital Management L.P. now owns 72,515 shares of the company's stock worth $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 16,383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $65.00 price objective on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group set a $80.00 price target on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore initiated coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set an "inline" rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, e.l.f. Beauty has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at e.l.f. Beauty

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, insider Kory Marchisotto sold 23,796 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $1,514,853.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 152,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,702,866.22. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Tarang Amin sold 52,880 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.64, for a total value of $3,312,403.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 98,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,164,778.24. The trade was a 34.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 210,013 shares of company stock worth $13,315,490. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of ELF opened at $56.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.19. e.l.f. Beauty has a one year low of $49.72 and a one year high of $150.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.71.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 1.61%.The company had revenue of $449.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.270-3.320 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

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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