Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,880,000 shares, a drop of 14.7% from the January 31st total of 12,750,000 shares. Approximately 10.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sally Beauty

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBH. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty by 1,177.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,136,121 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $11,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047,199 shares during the last quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. acquired a new position in Sally Beauty in the fourth quarter valued at $9,413,000. Ranmore Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Sally Beauty during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,517,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sally Beauty by 102.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,418,465 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,823,000 after acquiring an additional 716,613 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Sally Beauty during the fourth quarter worth about $6,746,000.

Sally Beauty Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SBH traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $9.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,709,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,030. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.26 and a 200-day moving average of $12.00. The company has a market capitalization of $949.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.54. Sally Beauty has a 12-month low of $8.43 and a 12-month high of $14.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The firm had revenue of $937.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.44 million. Sally Beauty had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 4.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that Sally Beauty will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SBH. Raymond James upgraded shares of Sally Beauty from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Sally Beauty from $13.00 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sally Beauty from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Sally Beauty in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sally Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sally Beauty has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.70.

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.