Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Receives Buy Rating from DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $191.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $160.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised Estée Lauder Companies from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $131.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $163.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a market perform rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.87.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $100.72 on Wednesday. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $95.87 and a 1-year high of $183.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a PE ratio of 56.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.99.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,598.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Jueptner sold 12,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.62, for a total transaction of $1,670,107.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,578 shares in the company, valued at $728,598.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,255 shares of company stock valued at $5,453,232 over the last three months. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Kintegral Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 5,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 90,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,576,000 after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.8% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.