Rodgers Brothers Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,914 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,879 shares during the quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $4,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,704,000 after buying an additional 3,313,557 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,014,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,025,532,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,210 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 3,092,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,971,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,840 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.35 per share, with a total value of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL opened at $65.42 on Monday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.29 and a 52 week high of $155.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.09.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -71.79%.

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.