Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $80.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $105.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Raymond James cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.52.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock opened at $66.58 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $63.36 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $90.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.98.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,832,000 after buying an additional 1,250,555 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,926 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,320 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,612,000 after acquiring an additional 140,416 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.