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

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.68.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $80.25 on Friday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The stock has a market cap of $28.81 billion, a PE ratio of 143.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.68 and its 200-day moving average is $84.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.51 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% 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.