Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group raised Ulta Beauty's price target from $425.00 to $550.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.89% from its previous close.
• The consensus target price for Ulta Beauty among analysts is $497.63, with most giving a "hold" rating but a significant number also issuing "buy" ratings.
• Ulta Beauty reported a strong quarterly earnings performance with an EPS of $6.70, surpassing analysts' expectations of $5.73 and showing a revenue increase of 4.5% year-over-year.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $425.00 to $550.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the specialty retailer's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ulta Beauty from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $542.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $437.00 price target (up previously from $386.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $534.75.

Ulta Beauty Trading Down 7.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA traded down $37.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $492.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,938,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 676,046. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $498.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.76. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.12. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $309.01 and a 1 year high of $538.59.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The specialty retailer reported $5.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.66 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 49.73%. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ulta Beauty will post 23.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ULTA. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 107.7% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 142.9% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Ulta Beauty by 218.5% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 86 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a specialty beauty retailer in the United States. The company offers branded and private label beauty products, including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools through its Ulta Beauty stores, shop-in-shops, Ulta.com website, and its mobile applications.