Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Downgraded by Hsbc Global Res to “Hold”

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

EL has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.36.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $90.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.03, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $82.39 and a 1 year high of $159.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.21.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 148.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armistice Capital LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% in the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter valued at $997,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised 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 valued at $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth about $6,043,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $558,000. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

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.