Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Given New $77.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price target cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $81.00 to $77.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.55.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of EL opened at $65.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.54. The company has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.52.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.