Bank of America Cuts Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $75.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $100.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $131.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.52.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $66.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.32. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $63.36 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.89, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.09 and its 200 day moving average is $105.98.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 471.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.0% in the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 263 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,262.5% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.