Citigroup Cuts Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) Price Target to $55.00

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

EL has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.52.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 3.0 %

EL opened at $52.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. Estée Lauder Companies has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $149.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -71.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Estée Lauder Companies

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,382,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,078,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,930,011 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $554,509,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $251,304,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 11,026.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,343,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,704,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 148.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,481,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,984,000 after acquiring an additional 3,278,632 shares in the last quarter. 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.