Estee Lauder Companies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EL)

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 12,631 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 101% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,290 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EL shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $120.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Estee Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Estee Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.95.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $76.46. 920,405 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,617,705. Estee Lauder Companies has a 52-week low of $52.51 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $27.66 billion, a PE ratio of -152.96, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.15 and its 200-day moving average is $97.40.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.05. Estee Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. Estee Lauder Companies’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.230 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Estee Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is currently -280.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Investors Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Spolka Akcyjna purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global leader in prestige beauty that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder, the company has grown from a small family business into a multinational consumer-products enterprise headquartered in New York City. Its activities span product research and development, brand and product marketing, manufacturing and global distribution across multiple retail channels.

The company’s portfolio includes a mix of legacy and prestige brands that target different consumer segments and price points, with well-known names such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone among others.