The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Short Interest Update

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,860,000 shares, a growth of 55.6% from the October 31st total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EL. Hsbc Global Res lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

EL traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.12. 3,620,919 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,574,799. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12-month low of $62.29 and a 12-month high of $159.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.79, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 471.43%.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 75,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.93 per share, for a total transaction of $4,902,215.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 310,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 63.9% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 431 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 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, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.