The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Up 40.4% in September

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, a growth of 40.4% from the August 31st total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $131.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.27.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value 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 $4,578,114. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EL. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd 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. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $291,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,188,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,908.0% during the fourth quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,195,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:EL traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $99.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,820,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,210,515. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $82.39 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.11, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during 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%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.