Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group to Buy Rating

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $115.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $76.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $62.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.30.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $92.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.16. Estee Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $48.37 and a twelve month high of $96.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.26.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. Estee Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Estee Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.900-2.100 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -44.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estee Lauder Companies

In other Estee Lauder Companies news, VP Lande Rashida La sold 6,417 shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.88, for a total value of $589,593.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,702 shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.65, for a total transaction of $339,288.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,650.35. The trade was a 19.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 13.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,904,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,173,879,000 after buying an additional 341,235 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,859,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,451,000 after buying an additional 69,959 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,976,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,445,000 after buying an additional 118,276 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 13.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,596,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,787,000 after purchasing an additional 914,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 17.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,912,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,710,000 after purchasing an additional 892,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

About Estee 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.