Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note
In the latest market close, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) reached $503.52, with a +0.29% movement compared to the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.25% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.97%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.3%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 5.96% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 0.11% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.58% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Ulta Beauty in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $4.91, reflecting a 26.5% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.51 billion, up 8.89% from the year-ago period.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher within the past month. Ulta Beauty presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Ulta Beauty is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.67. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 13.89.
Investors should also note that ULTA has a PEG ratio of 2.2 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ULTA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.33 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 167, putting it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
