UBS Group Cuts Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $60.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $75.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

EL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. CICC Research assumed coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $54.37 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.10 and a 200 day moving average of $73.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $48.37 and a 52 week high of $149.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EL. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,789,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,555,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $199,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after buying an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during 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.