Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Reaches New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $572.90 and last traded at $591.0440, with a volume of 39293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $533.95.

The specialty retailer reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.61 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.14 EPS. Ulta Beauty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.200-25.500 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ULTA. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $530.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up previously from $610.00) on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research report on Friday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $560.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ULTA. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 107.7% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $25,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 68 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth about $31,000. 90.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ulta Beauty Stock Up 12.7%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $506.60. The stock has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.87.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

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.