The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Down 8.1% in November

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,220,000 shares, a drop of 8.1% from the November 15th total of 7,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $292,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.19. 3,502,848 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,583,669. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.12. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

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.