Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EL. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a market perform rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $120.64.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $95.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.86, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $82.39 and a 52-week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.34.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,555 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after purchasing an additional 140,416 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 12.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,262,000 after buying an additional 318,257 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.