Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $60.23 and last traded at $60.25, with a volume of 2413628 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 9.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.12, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.43.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,532,000 after buying an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $554,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.