Analysts Set The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) PT at $98.57

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $97.82.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $1,002,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at about $1,621,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $199,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $74.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $62.29 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 250.00%.

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.