Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on EL. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.67.

Estee Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of EL stock opened at $95.61 on Friday. Estee Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $66.22 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 195.12, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Estee Lauder Companies will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 285.71%.

Insider Activity at Estee Lauder Companies

In other Estee Lauder Companies news, Director Paul Fribourg sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 417,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,966,341. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.82, for a total value of $373,045.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,036,954.22. This represents a 6.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 75,105 shares of company stock worth $7,423,185. Insiders own 13.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $14,619,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 14.6% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 973,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,854,000 after buying an additional 124,079 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,308,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,020,000 after buying an additional 331,530 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $5,586,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,972,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,528,000 after buying an additional 450,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

About Estee Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc is a global beauty company that develops, manufactures and markets prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair-care products. Its portfolio includes Estée Lauder, Clinique, M·A·C, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, La Mer, Jo Malone London, Aveda, Tom Ford Beauty and The Ordinary, among other brands.

Founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder, the company began with four skincare products and has expanded into a broad international beauty business. Its products are sold through department and specialty stores, freestanding stores, e-commerce platforms, travel retail locations and other distribution channels.

Estée Lauder Companies serves consumers in markets around the world, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.