The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Update

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,860,000 shares, an increase of 55.6% from the October 31st total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Armistice Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,398,000 after purchasing an additional 96,239 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 111,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,067,000 after buying an additional 32,215 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $6,043,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded down $1.56 on Friday, reaching $72.05. The company had a trading volume of 2,490,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,531,117. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 132.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.89.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

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.