The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, an increase of 12.5% from the October 15th total of 4,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.3 %

EL traded up $0.84 during trading on Monday, reaching $64.59. The company had a trading volume of 3,267,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,461,230. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $84.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.34. The company has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.84, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.05. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Estée Lauder Companies's payout ratio is 250.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total transaction of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This represents a 20.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. Corporate insiders own 12.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $31,000. PARK CIRCLE Co bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on EL shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Estée Lauder Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.90.

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.