Brokerages Set The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Target Price at $120.64

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $105.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $165.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL opened at $96.10 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.21. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $82.39 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.46 billion, a PE ratio of 53.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.31%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,612,000 after purchasing an additional 140,416 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 12.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,962,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,262,000 after purchasing an additional 318,257 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.