DA Davidson Reaffirms Buy Rating for Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on EL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised Estée Lauder Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Raymond James downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $122.77.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $87.49 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.15, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $86.05 and a 1-year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 148.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.