Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 1,616 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 42.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,429 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 156,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,900,000 after buying an additional 83,320 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,477.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 566,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,804,000 after purchasing an additional 550,355 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 517.6% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 46,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 39,082 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $819,000. Finally, YCG LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. YCG LLC now owns 178,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,068,000 after buying an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Citigroup upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $164.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.75.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $106.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $38.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.78, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.73 and its 200 day moving average is $137.22. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $198.86.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total value of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $1,967,134.89. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,412,971.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.77% 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.