Cullen Investment Group LTD. Boosts Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,214 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,585,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 111.8% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 182,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,398,000 after acquiring an additional 96,239 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during 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 period. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 41,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CICC Research started coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, December 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.50.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL opened at $74.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 133.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.19.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 77,500 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This trade represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.