e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $131.23, but opened at $137.60. e.l.f. Beauty shares last traded at $142.00, with a volume of 598,727 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. B. Riley decreased their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on e.l.f. Beauty from $167.00 to $154.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a report on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $240.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $131.00 to $115.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, e.l.f. Beauty presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.53.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 6.4 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $301.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.43 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 19.34% and a net margin of 8.87%. The business's revenue was up 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maureen C. Watson sold 785 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $102,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,440. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the second quarter worth about $6,659,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 1,380.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 16,284 shares of the company's stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 15,184 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 39,319 shares of the company's stock worth $8,285,000 after purchasing an additional 9,939 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 84.4% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,259,644 shares of the company's stock worth $265,432,000 after purchasing an additional 576,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 503,577 shares of the company's stock worth $54,905,000 after purchasing an additional 62,480 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

e.l.f. Beauty Company Profile

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cosmetic and skin care products under the e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare brand names worldwide. The company offers eye, lip, face, face, paw, and skin care products. It sells its products through national and international retailers and direct-to-consumer channels, which include e-commerce platforms in the United States, and internationally primarily through distributors.