The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Plans $0.66 Quarterly Dividend

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share on Monday, June 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st.

Estée Lauder Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 21.0% annually over the last three years. Estée Lauder Companies has a payout ratio of 62.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Estée Lauder Companies to earn $4.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.7%.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

EL stock opened at $127.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a PE ratio of 97.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $102.22 and a 1 year high of $246.48.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Estée Lauder Companies will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.29.

About Estée Lauder Companies

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.