Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on EL. Barclays increased their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. HSBC upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $77.70.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.1%

EL stock traded down $0.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $91.11. 2,973,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,315,461. The firm's 50 day moving average is $72.10 and its 200 day moving average is $69.51. Estee Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $48.37 and a twelve month high of $103.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $32.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 1.17.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 15.60% and a negative net margin of 5.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Estee Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -57.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estee Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company's stock worth $2,025,532,000 after buying an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,078,406,000 after buying an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,976,434 shares of the company's stock worth $526,445,000 after buying an additional 118,276 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $554,509,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,681,785 shares of the company's stock worth $440,998,000 after buying an additional 1,200,537 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estee 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.