Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 26.200-27.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 26.800. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.7 billion-$11.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.8 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ULTA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $485.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Ulta Beauty from $580.00 to $520.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Ulta Beauty from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $540.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $548.05.

Ulta Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $397.39 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $486.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. Ulta Beauty has a 52-week low of $368.02 and a 52-week high of $574.76.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The specialty retailer reported $8.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.49 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 61.64% and a net margin of 11.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.68 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ulta Beauty will post 26.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 14th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty retailer to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total transaction of $1,629,325.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ulta Beauty news, insider Anita Jane Ryan sold 3,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.25, for a total value of $1,629,325.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,705 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,801.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Kecia Steelman sold 20,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.39, for a total transaction of $11,027,870.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,523,936.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,552 shares of company stock worth $12,920,326. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.