Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Stock Bumped Up to Overweight by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $108.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $97.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. China Intl Cap upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.76.

Estee Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:EL opened at $93.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a PE ratio of 190.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.45. Estee Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $66.22 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. Estee Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Estee Lauder Companies will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Estee Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 285.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total value of $5,693,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 417,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,966,341. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.82, for a total transaction of $373,045.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,036,954.22. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,105 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,185. 13.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estee Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna bought a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Estee Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Estee Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 35.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 1,732.5% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global beauty company that develops, markets and sells prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Its portfolio includes brands such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, La Mer, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London, Aveda, The Ordinary and Tom Ford Beauty.

The company’s products are distributed through department stores, specialty retailers, freestanding stores, e-commerce platforms, travel retail outlets and other channels. Estée Lauder serves consumers in numerous markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Estée Lauder was founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder and her husband, Joseph Lauder, beginning with a small collection of skincare products.