The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $168.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $144.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.07. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a PE ratio of 111.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.