Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) closed at $244.98 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.17% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.08%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.3%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 4.94% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.56% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.25% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from ULTA as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be December 5, 2019. On that day, ULTA is projected to report earnings of $2.16 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 0.92%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.69 billion, up 8.46% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.96 per share and revenue of $7.40 billion. These totals would mark changes of +10.23% and +10.19%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for ULTA should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. ULTA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ULTA has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.52 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.51.
We can also see that ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.23. 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 1.67 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 83, putting it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
To follow ULTA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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