Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 364,621 Shares of Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) by 341.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 471,528 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 364,621 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Sally Beauty were worth $4,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sally Beauty by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sally Beauty by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,546,108 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,551,000 after acquiring an additional 80,712 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Sally Beauty by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 331,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,505,000 after acquiring an additional 60,928 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sally Beauty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sally Beauty by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,396,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $208,928,000 after purchasing an additional 387,736 shares during the period.

Sally Beauty Stock Performance

Shares of SBH opened at $9.04 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.52. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.25 and a 52-week high of $14.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $921.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Sally Beauty (NYSE:SBH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $937.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.44 million. Sally Beauty had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 30.35%. Research analysts forecast that Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Sally Beauty from $13.00 to $10.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Sally Beauty in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sally Beauty from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sally Beauty presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.70.

Sally Beauty 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.