Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Earns Market Perform Rating from Analysts at CICC Research

CICC Research began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EL. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.82.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $74.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $26.79 billion, a PE ratio of 133.25, a PEG ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.59.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.