e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) Short Interest Down 47.8% in August

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 4,186,787 shares, a decrease of 47.8% from the July 30th total of 8,016,841 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,197,906 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 7.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ELF. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $111.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $72.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.12.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

e.l.f. Beauty stock traded up $4.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $108.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,239,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,771,585. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 108.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.58. e.l.f. Beauty has a 12 month low of $48.82 and a 12 month high of $150.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.98.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $479.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.20 million. e.l.f. Beauty had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. e.l.f. Beauty has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.500-3.550 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at e.l.f. Beauty

In other news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 50,164 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.24, for a total transaction of $3,924,831.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,496 shares in the company, valued at $8,645,207.04. This trade represents a 31.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joshua Allen Franks sold 6,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total transaction of $355,996.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 153,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,974,452.08. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,780 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,078. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

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

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ELF. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 153,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,650,000 after purchasing an additional 13,851 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 168.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,069 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 176.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,985 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in e.l.f. Beauty during the 1st quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.