Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Earns “Buy” Rating from DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $81.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL opened at $73.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of -37.43, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.57.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $335,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 131,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,855,000 after buying an additional 3,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poehling Capital Management INC. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC. now owns 31,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,362,000 after buying an additional 15,597 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.