B. Riley Reiterates Neutral Rating for Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL)

B. Riley reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $70.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EL. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

EL opened at $59.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.81. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $48.37 and a 1 year high of $139.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a PE ratio of -30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 16.82% and a negative net margin of 4.61%. The company’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -71.79%.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other news, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $65.79 per share, with a total value of $46,053.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 43,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 430,800 shares in the company, valued at $28,583,580. This represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 12.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $1,555,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at about $199,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 25.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,863,000 after buying an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after buying an additional 45,687 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,002,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.