Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Upgraded to “Hold” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Estee Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.65.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $89.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.58. Estee Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $66.22 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.05, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.26.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.25. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 20.66% and a negative net margin of 1.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.330-2.430 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Estee Lauder Companies will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Estee Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -200.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth about $130,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 950.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,843,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $993,567,000 after buying an additional 12,526,471 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 16.8% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 62,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after buying an additional 8,981 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 37.4% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 21,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 31,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 6,184 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

About Estee Lauder Companies

Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global leader in prestige beauty that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder, the company has grown from a small family business into a multinational consumer-products enterprise headquartered in New York City. Its activities span product research and development, brand and product marketing, manufacturing and global distribution across multiple retail channels.

The company’s portfolio includes a mix of legacy and prestige brands that target different consumer segments and price points, with well-known names such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone among others.