The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NYSE:EL)

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th.

Estée Lauder Companies has raised its dividend by an average of 2.1% annually over the last three years. Estée Lauder Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 53.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Estée Lauder Companies to earn $2.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.9%.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $3.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $65.79. 11,894,387 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,281,980. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.55.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.