The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Down 8.1% in November

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,220,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the November 15th total of 7,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL traded down $0.40 on Monday, hitting $79.64. 4,446,339 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,583,997. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $77.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.12. 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 one year low of $62.29 and a one year high of $159.75. The firm has a market cap of $28.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 142.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Estée Lauder Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $105.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 77,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.