The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EL shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. HSBC cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL opened at $69.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of -35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.03. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.54.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 196,700 shares of company stock worth $12,762,093. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 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.