In the latest close session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) was up +1.4% at $514.84. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.47%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.34%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.95%.
Heading into today, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 6.27% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 1.38% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.64%.
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 $4.92, reflecting a 7.17% decrease from the same quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $2.6 billion, showing a 1.7% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $23.48 per share and a revenue of $11.64 billion, demonstrating changes of -7.34% and +3.04%, respectively, from the preceding year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.15% higher. Right now, Ulta Beauty possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Ulta Beauty is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.63. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 14.38.
Investors should also note that ULTA has a PEG ratio of 3.07 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Miscellaneous industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.95 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 163, which puts it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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