Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Raised to Buy at Bank of America

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) was upgraded by Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $170.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $160.00. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on EL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $145.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.00 billion, a PE ratio of 111.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $142.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.30. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth $39,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 209 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 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.