Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $82.77, but opened at $76.50. Estée Lauder Companies shares last traded at $69.72, with a volume of 2,404,172 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on EL. HSBC lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, CICC Research began coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, December 27th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.05.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a PE ratio of 117.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.39.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently 250.00%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In related news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, with a total value of $4,960,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. This represents a 49.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,723,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,600,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533,006 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 80.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,934,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,510,000 after buying an additional 1,310,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 36.4% in 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. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 695.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,123,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,994,000 after buying an additional 982,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

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.