Analysts Set The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Target Price at $98.57

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.57.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EL shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $113.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $76.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.77, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.43 and its 200 day moving average is $95.92. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 471.43%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $199,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,555,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,789,000. 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.