The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Receives $93.55 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.55.

Several brokerages have weighed in on EL. HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,314,000 after acquiring an additional 913,470 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of EL opened at $78.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.02. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.15.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.