Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Takes $438,000 Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 297.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of EL stock opened at $66.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.50. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $155.73.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released 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 positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.