DA Davidson Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $81.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.93% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $74.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 132.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.00.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after buying an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.