TruNorth Capital Management LLC Makes New $90,000 Investment in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after acquiring an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 729.4% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 47,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 41,773 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on EL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL opened at $75.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.29 and a 1 year high of $159.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.77. The firm has a market cap of $26.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.51, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,645.99. The trade was a 41.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.