Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

SBH has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sally Beauty from $8.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Sally Beauty from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Sally Beauty from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Sally Beauty from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Sally Beauty Price Performance

SBH stock opened at $14.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 2.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 1.53. Sally Beauty has a 52-week low of $9.06 and a 52-week high of $14.64.

Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The specialty retailer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $935.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $935.88 million. Sally Beauty had a return on equity of 31.37% and a net margin of 4.13%. Sally Beauty’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sally Beauty will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sally Beauty news, CAO Kim Mcintosh sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.53, for a total value of $62,479.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 16,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,433.05. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott C. Sherman sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.49, for a total value of $195,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,825.19. The trade was a 24.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sally Beauty

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Sally Beauty by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,181 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 16,120 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,589 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sally Beauty by 303.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 429,938 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,339,000 after purchasing an additional 323,438 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 70,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 3,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in Sally Beauty by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 17,897 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 4,117 shares during the period.

Sally Beauty Company Profile

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc operates as a specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. The company operates through two segments, Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group. The Sally Beauty Supply segment offers beauty products, including hair color and care products, skin and nail care products, styling tools, and other beauty products for retail customers, salons, and salon professionals.