Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $665.57 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.81% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.56%.
The beauty products retailer's shares have seen an increase of 4.41% over the last month, surpassing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 3.66% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.74%.
The upcoming earnings release of Ulta Beauty will be of great interest to investors. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $7.93, signifying a 6.26% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.82 billion, up 9.62% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $25.57 per share and revenue of $12.37 billion. These totals would mark changes of +0.91% and 0%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 0.23% increase. At present, Ulta Beauty boasts a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
With respect to valuation, Ulta Beauty is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.32. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 20.67.
It is also worth noting that ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.36. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Miscellaneous industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.82.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, finds itself in the top 34% echelons 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.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding 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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