Terra Alpha Investments LLC Invests $1.36 Million in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Terra Alpha Investments LLC acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,356,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on EL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $66.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.65. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $155.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée 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.