Cannell & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Cannell & Co. cut its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth $61,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.08.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $134.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $210.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.32%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.