Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Trading Down 3.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) traded down 3.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $71.44 and last traded at $71.50. 775,717 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,518,579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.82.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.00 billion, a PE ratio of 129.32, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This trade represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% 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.