Estée Lauder Companies' (EL) "Market Perform" Rating Reiterated at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group restated their market perform rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $76.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on EL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.36.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.97. 2,634,272 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,177,235. The company has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.16, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $62.29 and a 52-week high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is currently 250.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,128,300. The trade was a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 12.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,575,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,054,314,000 after purchasing an additional 913,470 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $570,600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,006 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,679,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,587,000 after purchasing an additional 70,307 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,041,911 shares of the company's stock worth $402,938,000 after buying an additional 1,078,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company's stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.