The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.7143.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $105.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Key Stories Impacting Estee Lauder Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Estee Lauder Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic upside — a combination would create a ~ $40bn prestige-beauty group with deeper scale in fragrances and prestige brands, potentially strengthening EL’s position vs. peers. Estée Lauder nears deal to combine with Jean Paul Gaultier owner Puig
• Positive Sentiment: Complementary brand mix — Puig brings fragrance-focused, high-margin labels (e.g., Carolina Herrera, Charlotte Tilbury) that could accelerate portfolio rebalancing if integrated successfully. Estee Lauder’s bet on Puig is bold fragrance play in a volatile world
• Neutral Sentiment: Company statement — EL and Puig confirmed talks but said no agreement has been reached; any deal remains uncertain and subject to negotiation. The Estée Lauder Companies’ Statement on Potential Transaction with Puig
• Neutral Sentiment: Market signal — Puig shares jumped on the news while EL shares fell, reflecting a classic bidder/target dynamic where target upside is priced faster than buyer synergies. Puig stock soars after Estée Lauder confirms takeover talks
• Negative Sentiment: “Acquirer discount” and execution risk — investors are pricing concerns about a costly deal premium, added leverage, dilution and management distraction from EL’s ongoing turnaround and cost initiatives. Estée Lauder slides as Puig merger talks spark “acquirer discount” worries
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/target pressure — Wells Fargo trimmed its price target to $90 and moved to equal weight, signaling lower near-term analyst support and adding selling pressure. Wells Fargo lowers EL price target

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $71.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of -142.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.11. Estee Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 17.59% and a negative net margin of 1.21%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.230 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is -280.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 185.3% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,140,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,596,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286,875 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Estee Lauder Companies by 4,281.3% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 4,094,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,094,761,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001,300 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Estee Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $308,912,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 16,270.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,667,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,915 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 3,181.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,312,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.