Estée Lauder Companies’ (EL) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $81.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on EL. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reduced 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $73.00 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54.

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 company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.