Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,926 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,449 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after acquiring an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 7,858,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,379 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $554,509,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $65.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of -33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $134.63.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -57.85%.

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.