Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded to “Outperform” by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $131.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $145.00 to $129.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $175.00 to $135.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their target price for the stock from $164.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $163.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $147.87.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $100.72 on Wednesday. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $95.87 and a fifty-two week high of $183.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a PE ratio of 56.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total value of $1,815,989.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,958,990.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by 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.