Savant Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Savant Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,237,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,304,000 after acquiring an additional 502,235 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $819,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,085,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,776,000 after purchasing an additional 418,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EL shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Bernstein Bank upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.92.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

EL stock opened at $129.52 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $209.64. The company has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 72.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $145.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

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