Short Interest in e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) Rises By 29.5%

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,470,000 shares, an increase of 29.5% from the January 31st total of 5,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELF traded down $0.35 on Thursday, hitting $64.32. 432,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,062,019. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. e.l.f. Beauty has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $219.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.49.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.35). e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.55%. Sell-side analysts predict that e.l.f. Beauty will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 890 shares of e.l.f. Beauty stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total value of $122,464.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,718,582.40. This trade represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott Milsten sold 530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.60, for a total value of $72,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 68,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,474,172.80. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ELF. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 149.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 328,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,250,000 after buying an additional 197,028 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of e.l.f. Beauty by 441.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 6,752 shares during the period. Robbins Farley increased its position in e.l.f. Beauty by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 34,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,318,000 after purchasing an additional 7,335 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in e.l.f. Beauty by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 15,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ELF shares. Raymond James dropped their price target on e.l.f. Beauty from $175.00 to $120.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $167.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of e.l.f. Beauty in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $142.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of e.l.f. Beauty from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, e.l.f. Beauty presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.94.

About e.l.f. Beauty

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of inclusive, accessible, clean, vegan and cruelty free cosmetics and skin care products. The company focuses on the e-commerce, national retailers and international business channels. Its brands include elf, elf skin, WELL People and KEYS soulcare.