Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Neutral

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $74.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $113.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Raymond James lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $66.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 118.66, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.53 and a 200 day moving average of $105.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $63.36 and a 12 month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,612,000 after purchasing an additional 140,416 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,920,439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.