NS Partners Ltd Cuts Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

NS Partners Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 0.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 134,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $13,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $64.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a PE ratio of 115.72, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. The trade was a 6.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 20.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.