Fiera Capital Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 14.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,316 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Regent Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Regent Investment Management LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. BancorpSouth Bank increased its stake in Ulta Beauty by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. BancorpSouth Bank now owns 1,260 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.3% in the first quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 16,024 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 1,296 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 28.0% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 224 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 86.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ULTA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cfra decreased their price objective on Ulta Beauty from $340.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $230.00 to $220.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Ulta Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Ulta Beauty currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.64.

Shares of NASDAQ ULTA opened at $220.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.83. Ulta Beauty Inc has a 52 week low of $124.05 and a 52 week high of $368.83. The stock has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.45.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The specialty retailer reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Ulta Beauty had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ulta Beauty Inc will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.60 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty retailer to reacquire up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty, Inc operates as a beauty retailer in the United States. The company's stores offer cosmetics, fragrances, skincare and haircare products, bath and body products, and salon styling tools; salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services; and others, including nail products and accessories.

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