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

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat 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 target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $73.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.53.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.