Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded at 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 research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $131.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $108.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $163.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $149.63.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $100.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $95.87 and a 1-year high of $183.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $112.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.52.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 148.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,958,990.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232 over the last three months. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

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.