The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Receives $81.57 Average Target Price from Analysts

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.25.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. The trade was a 11.09 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.2% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 4,011 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 67,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 0.3% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 63,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,194,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 33.5% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 177,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,478,000 after purchasing an additional 44,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL opened at $58.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of -30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.80 and a 200-day moving average of $71.03. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $48.37 and a 52-week high of $139.34.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. 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 $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -71.79%.

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.