The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Up 12.5% in October

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, a growth of 12.5% from the October 15th total of 4,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $64.59. The stock had a trading volume of 3,267,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,461,230. The firm has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 113.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. The trade was a 6.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.