Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Shares Gap Down to $146.71

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $146.71, but opened at $140.41. Estée Lauder Companies shares last traded at $137.94, with a volume of 1,372,239 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Estée Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $45.21 billion, a PE ratio of 104.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.90 and a 200-day moving average of $138.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly 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. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 203.08%.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EL. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 103.1% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.