Ulta Beauty (ULTA) ended the recent trading session at $578.87, demonstrating a +2.01% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.02% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.35%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.15%.
The stock of beauty products retailer has risen by 3.43% in the past month, leading the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 0.63% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.05%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Ulta Beauty in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $5.6, reflecting a 8.95% increase from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.99 billion, up 4.54% from the year-ago period.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $28.95 per share and revenue of $13.27 billion, indicating changes of +12.91% and +7.06%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Ulta Beauty. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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. Over the past month, there's been a 0.04% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Ulta Beauty boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Ulta Beauty is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.6. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 14.95 for its industry.
One should further note that ULTA currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.7. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Miscellaneous was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.7 at yesterday's closing price.
The Retail - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 69, positioning it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).