In the latest trading session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $353.63, marking a +1% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.46%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.15%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.59%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 14.63% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.85% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.24% in that time.
ULTA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, ULTA is projected to report earnings of $3.05 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.97%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.74 billion, up 12.86% from the year-ago period.
ULTA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $12.78 per share and revenue of $7.54 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +17.79% and +12.18%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for ULTA. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 0.24% higher within the past month. ULTA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ULTA has a Forward P/E ratio of 27.4 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.33.
We can also see that ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.49. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Retail - Miscellaneous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.8 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, putting it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post