AJOVista LLC Purchases New Shares in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter worth $55,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. 55.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EL traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,791,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,756. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a one year low of $102.22 and a one year high of $209.64. The company has a market cap of $47.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $164.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.92.

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