Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target Cut to $70.00 by Analysts at B. Riley

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Free Report) had its price target lowered by B. Riley from $95.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EL. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE EL traded down $0.13 on Monday, reaching $66.45. The company had a trading volume of 6,300,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,379,021. The company's fifty day moving average is $90.09 and its 200-day moving average is $105.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.32. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $63.36 and a 1-year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. Estée Lauder Companies's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,714.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,714.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charlene Barshefsky sold 3,437 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.93, for a total transaction of $315,963.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,578,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,686,550 shares of the company's stock worth $3,188,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,555 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% during the third 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. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 44.4% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 3,466,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,788,000 after buying an additional 1,066,320 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,163,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $487,612,000 after acquiring an additional 140,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3,065.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,983,083 shares of the company's stock worth $211,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company's stock.

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.