Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by investment analysts at UBS Group from $74.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.53% from the stock's previous close.

EL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.64.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 4.7 %

EL stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $78.03. 3,841,332 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,102,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.96. The company has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.33, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, 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. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EL. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.

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