The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $160.75.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $164.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.3% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% during the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.6% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $105.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $198.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.89.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.32%.

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.