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

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.55.

EL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of 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. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth $31,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth $32,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $77.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.64. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a PE ratio of 139.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.02.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

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.