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 note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $130.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on EL. UBS Group lowered their price target on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $136.00 to $117.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $129.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $120.27.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $100.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.62, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.00. Estée Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $82.39 and a fifty-two week high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.27 and a 200 day moving average of $116.74.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.39. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.31%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of Estée Lauder Companies 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 sale, the director now owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,114. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, 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 transaction of $364,142.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,578,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.