The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Holdings Raised by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 207.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 585 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,901,000 after acquiring an additional 988,829 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth $95,085,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $69,047,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $147.42 on Tuesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.22 and a 1-year high of $255.80. The company has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.