Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $80.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $105.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on EL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $131.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.82.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $68.58. 4,360,351 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,331,626. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $63.36 and a 1 year high of $159.75.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 16.91% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 244.44%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, 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 transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $315,963.41. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This represents 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,262.5% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during 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.