The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Update

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,640,000 shares, an increase of 44.6% from the May 31st total of 3,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EL traded down $0.97 on Monday, hitting $105.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,124,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,802,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $198.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.18.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,958,990.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total value of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at $6,958,990.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,598.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232 over the last three months. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bernstein Bank raised their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.75.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.