Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $9.18, but opened at $10.18. Sally Beauty shares last traded at $9.39, with a volume of 542,470 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SBH. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Sally Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $16.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Sally Beauty from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Sally Beauty from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upgraded Sally Beauty from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sally Beauty from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.20.

Sally Beauty Stock Up 5.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.17. The firm has a market cap of $988.64 million, a P/E ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.55.

Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. Sally Beauty had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 31.37%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott C. Sherman sold 13,500 shares of Sally Beauty stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.49, for a total transaction of $195,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $614,825.19. This trade represents a 24.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Kim Mcintosh sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.53, for a total transaction of $62,479.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 16,685 shares in the company, valued at $242,433.05. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sally Beauty

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Sally Beauty by 369.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,980 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,702 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sally Beauty during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sally Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Sally Beauty by 89.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,871 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the last quarter.

About Sally Beauty

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.