The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 290,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 159,599 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Estée Lauder Companies worth $28,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $368,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 1st quarter worth $82,664,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,128,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $113.00 to $74.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE EL opened at $65.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.68, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.12. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its 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 return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value 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. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,296 shares of company stock valued at $1,423,366. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

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.