e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Short Interest Down 36.2% in July

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,643,710 shares, a decline of 36.2% from the June 30th total of 11,978,483 shares. Approximately 13.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,737,886 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, insider Kory Marchisotto sold 4,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $224,258.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 181,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,371,658.04. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandy J. Fields sold 4,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $222,970.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 106,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,511,700.33. The trade was a 3.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 121,855 shares of company stock worth $8,351,493. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of e.l.f. Beauty

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,487,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,255,000 after purchasing an additional 140,258 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,197,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,086,000 after purchasing an additional 711,540 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,737,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,095,000 after purchasing an additional 13,231 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,364,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,779,000 after purchasing an additional 672,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,319,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,337,000 after buying an additional 361,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Up 2.0%

ELF traded up $1.64 on Thursday, reaching $82.54. 1,739,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,831,564. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.44, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.63. e.l.f. Beauty has a 52-week low of $48.82 and a 52-week high of $150.99.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $449.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.06 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The company’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.270-3.320 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ELF. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $90.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised e.l.f. Beauty from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $72.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.75.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE: ELF) is an American cosmetics company known for offering an extensive range of affordable, trend-driven makeup and skincare products. The company’s portfolio spans foundations, lipsticks, mascaras, brushes, serums, masks and other beauty essentials, all positioned at accessible price points. e.l.f. Beauty maintains a direct-to-consumer platform through its e-commerce site and engages in widespread retail partnerships with major chains such as Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty and Amazon.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California, e.l.f.