The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s 6th Largest Position

LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,088,926 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,855 shares during the period. Estée Lauder Companies makes up 4.8% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $159,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 3,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 148,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,668,000 after buying an additional 87,880 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management increased its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 11,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invera Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $504,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 6.2 %

NYSE:EL opened at $154.09 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.22 and a fifty-two week high of $260.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $55.24 billion, a PE ratio of 118.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.35.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 203.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.63.

Estée Lauder Companies 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.