Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a market perform rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.5 %

EL stock traded down $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $132.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,791,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,756. The company has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $145.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $102.22 and a 12 month high of $209.64.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 517.6% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 46,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 39,082 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $819,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 221.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 62,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 43,280 shares during the period. Finally, YCG LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. YCG LLC now owns 178,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,068,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by 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.