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

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-three brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EL. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $69.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $76.44 and its 200 day moving average is $82.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.37. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 196,700 shares of company stock valued at $12,762,093 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in 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 during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by 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.