Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $58.19, but opened at $53.00. Estée Lauder Companies shares last traded at $53.93, with a volume of 1,352,194 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Remove Ads

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $68.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of -28.79, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 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, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company's stock worth $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the period. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $554,509,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,704,000 after buying an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,984,000 after purchasing an additional 3,278,632 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by 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.