e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $90.50, but opened at $108.87. e.l.f. Beauty shares last traded at $116.68, with a volume of 3,568,887 shares.

The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $332.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.45 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on ELF shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $114.00 target price on e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $109.00 price objective (up previously from $81.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 4,000 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.39, for a total transaction of $269,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,232.32. The trade was a 67.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 51,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.36, for a total value of $2,740,196.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 114,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,118,257.60. The trade was a 30.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 223,001 shares of company stock worth $12,996,483. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in e.l.f. Beauty in the 4th quarter worth $1,250,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty in the fourth quarter worth $276,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Trading Up 0.7%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 66.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare.