Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $170.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $160.00. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.20% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $145.05 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.00 billion, a PE ratio of 111.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $102.22 and a 1-year high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 12,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 47,355 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $458,000. Rovin Capital UT ADV acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $409,000. Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $358,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,435,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,842,514,000 after acquiring an additional 809,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

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.