StockNews.com Upgrades Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) to Hold

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on EL. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Bernstein Bank lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.5 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $132.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,791,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,756. The stock has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a PE ratio of 74.69, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.07. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $102.22 and a 52 week high of $209.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.18.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $518,975,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $291,171,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Finally, Carmignac Gestion boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% in the fourth quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,201 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.