Estee Lauder Companies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:EL)

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 12,631 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 101% compared to the typical volume of 6,290 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $120.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Raymond James Financial raised Estee Lauder Companies from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.95.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Estee Lauder Companies stock opened at $77.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.32. The company has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -155.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. Estee Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $52.51 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.05. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 17.59% and a negative net margin of 1.21%.The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.230 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Estee Lauder Companies will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -280.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estee Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 10,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global leader in prestige beauty that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder, the company has grown from a small family business into a multinational consumer-products enterprise headquartered in New York City. Its activities span product research and development, brand and product marketing, manufacturing and global distribution across multiple retail channels.

The company’s portfolio includes a mix of legacy and prestige brands that target different consumer segments and price points, with well-known names such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone among others.