Brokerages Set The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) PT at $98.57

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-three analysts 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 twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $97.82.

A number of research firms have commented on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $74.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.22. The firm has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75. 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 (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.