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

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,599,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 34,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after buying an additional 6,569 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 14,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 85,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,526,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE EL opened at $73.32 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.53. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.54. The company has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

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.