Barclays Upgrades Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) to "Overweight"

Key Points

• Barclays upgraded Estée Lauder to “overweight” from “equal weight” and raised its price target to $108 from $97, implying approximately 17.3% upside.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with the stock carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $105.19.
• Estée Lauder recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.39 in EPS versus a $0.32 estimate and $3.64 billion in revenue, up 6.3% year over year.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $108.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $97.00. Barclays's price objective points to a potential upside of 17.33% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $86.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Estee Lauder Companies from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.19.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $92.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.42. Estee Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $66.22 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 187.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.27.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.07. Estee Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.100-3.350 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Estee Lauder Companies will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Estee Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,775 shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 50,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,036,954.22. The trade was a 6.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Rashida La Lande sold 7,766 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.32, for a total value of $802,383.12. Following the sale, the vice president owned 14,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,483,365.24. The trade was a 35.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 75,105 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,185 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 35.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 415 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 1.4% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,691 shares of the company's stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 0.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 64,538 shares of the company's stock worth $4,632,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc NYSE: EL is a global beauty company that develops, markets and sells prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Its portfolio includes brands such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, La Mer, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London, Aveda, The Ordinary and Tom Ford Beauty.

The company's products are distributed through department stores, specialty retailers, freestanding stores, e-commerce platforms, travel retail outlets and other channels. Estée Lauder serves consumers in numerous markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Estée Lauder was founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder and her husband, Joseph Lauder, beginning with a small collection of skincare products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.