The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.57.

A number of research firms have recently commented on EL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. HSBC downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:EL opened at $72.17 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.46. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.88, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 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 firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.