Zacks Research Downgrades e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) to Hold

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.12.

e.l.f. Beauty Price Performance

Shares of ELF opened at $96.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.57 and a 200 day moving average of $74.55. e.l.f. Beauty has a twelve month low of $48.82 and a twelve month high of $150.99.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $1.04. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 3.38%.The business had revenue of $479.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.500-3.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, insider Jennifer Hartnett sold 25,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $2,028,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,295,920. This represents a 46.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joshua Franks sold 5,718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $571,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 144,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,430,900. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,223 shares of company stock worth $10,000,410. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELF. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth $428,262,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 7,535.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,073,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,919 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty in the 2nd quarter worth $78,202,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $70,330,000 after buying an additional 896,282 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position 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 buying an additional 711,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc develops, markets and sells cosmetics, skin care and beauty products. Its portfolio includes e.l.f. Cosmetics, which offers makeup, skin care, tools and accessories, as well as brands such as Naturium, W3LL PEOPLE and Keys Soulcare. The company positions its products as accessible and affordable alternatives across a range of beauty categories.

Founded in 2004, e.l.f. Beauty distributes its products through mass retailers, specialty beauty stores, direct-to-consumer websites and other digital channels.