Stock Traders Buy High Volume of e.l.f. Beauty Call Options (NYSE:ELF)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy call option buying hit e.l.f. Beauty on Tuesday, with 20,426 call contracts traded — about 93% above its normal daily call volume.
• Shares of NYSE: ELF rose 1.0% to $74.23, with trading volume below average. The stock remains well below its 52-week high of $150.99 but above its 50-day moving average.
• Recent fundamentals were mixed but solid: e.l.f. Beauty beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $78.31.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 20,426 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,557 call options.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE ELF traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.23. 1,913,263 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,903,855. The company's 50-day moving average is $60.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.85. e.l.f. Beauty has a one year low of $48.82 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.59.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $449.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $423.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.270-3.320 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at e.l.f. Beauty

In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 50,164 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.24, for a total value of $3,924,831.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,496 shares in the company, valued at $8,645,207.04. The trade was a 31.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 23,797 shares of the firm'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 $1,514,917.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 114,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,317,080.40. This represents a 17.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 278,988 shares of company stock valued at $18,354,580 in the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of e.l.f. Beauty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 3,131.7% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 924,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,330,000 after buying an additional 896,282 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,197,319 shares of the company's stock worth $167,086,000 after acquiring an additional 711,540 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,364,801 shares of the company's stock worth $103,779,000 after acquiring an additional 672,071 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 394.9% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 657,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,033,000 after purchasing an additional 525,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,895,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore began coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued an "inline" rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $130.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $80.00 price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, e.l.f. Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.31.

About e.l.f. Beauty

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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