Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $132.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $209.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $145.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.15.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 148.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,435,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,514,000 after buying an additional 809,370 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,085,000 after purchasing an additional 254,198 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,169,000 after acquiring an additional 496,308 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.