Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Shares Up 4.4%

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) shares shot up 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $146.63 and last traded at $144.09. 2,687,130 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 2,663,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on EL. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 4.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $51.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,435,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,842,514,000 after purchasing an additional 809,370 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,009,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,553 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,163,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,197 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,151,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,169,000 after purchasing an additional 496,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.