Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on EL. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bernstein Bank increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $129.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.39.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:EL traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.67. 5,477,774 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,073,794. The firm has a market cap of $33.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.99. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $86.05 and a twelve month high of $165.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.09.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors 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.