Estée Lauder Companies’ (EL) Buy Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $81.00 price target on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. B. Riley dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $74.69 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.67. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a PE ratio of -38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its 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 negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after buying an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after buying an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.