The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $168.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:EL opened at $148.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $255.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for 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%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.3% during the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $1,904,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 26,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072 shares during the period. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.4% in the first quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 18.0% in the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.