Ulta Beauty (ULTA) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

In the latest trading session, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) closed at $667.18, marking a -2.32% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.57% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 1.34%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 2.04%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the beauty products retailer had gained 2.89% outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 4.94% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.29%.

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 $7.93, reflecting a 6.26% decrease from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.82 billion, up 9.62% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $25.56 per share and a revenue of $12.36 billion, signifying shifts of +0.87% and +9.46%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. 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 business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.27% upward. Ulta Beauty currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Ulta Beauty is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.04. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 19.84 of its industry.

We can also see that ULTA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.19. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Miscellaneous industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.75.

The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, which puts it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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