The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Sold by Intact Investment Management Inc.

Intact Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EL. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,901,000 after purchasing an additional 988,829 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,085,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,047,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

EL traded up $2.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,435,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,077. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.23. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.42, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $250.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 203.08%.

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.