Estée Lauder Companies’ (EL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $81.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.68.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.2 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $79.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 142.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.96. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $62.29 and a twelve month high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other 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 transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,128,300. This 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.1% during the third quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 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.