Bank of America Cuts Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $140.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

EL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bernstein Bank increased their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $151.67.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $103.36 on Wednesday. Estée Lauder Companies has a twelve month low of $101.35 and a twelve month high of $194.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.50. The company has a market capitalization of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 148.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total value of $1,815,989.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Estée Lauder Companies news, CFO Tracey Thomas Travis sold 14,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $1,967,134.89. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 47,248 shares in the company, valued at $6,412,971.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jane Lauder sold 14,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.26, for a total transaction of $1,815,989.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,958,990.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,255 shares of company stock worth $5,453,232 in the last 90 days. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $280,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 465,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,344,000 after purchasing an additional 48,273 shares in the last quarter. Financial Insights Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $355,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,801,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.