Stifel Nicolaus Raises Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) Price Target to $455.00

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $395.00 to $455.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.27% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on ULTA. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Ulta Beauty from $507.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ulta Beauty from $525.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Ulta Beauty from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $520.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $500.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ulta Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $438.00.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock opened at $428.17 on Friday. Ulta Beauty has a 1 year low of $318.17 and a 1 year high of $574.76. The company has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $374.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $376.64.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The specialty retailer reported $5.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.69. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 54.02% and a net margin of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ulta Beauty will post 23.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ulta Beauty

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULTA. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 66 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ulta Beauty in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter worth $32,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ulta Beauty by 151.5% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ulta Beauty by 118.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 83 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 90.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.