Short Interest in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Decreases By 8.1%

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,220,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the November 15th total of 7,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 77,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $64.01 per share, for a total transaction of $4,960,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 234,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,010,345. The trade was a 49.36 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Estée Lauder Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,002,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $1,621,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 25.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the third quarter valued at $199,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL stock traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.19. 3,502,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,583,669. The firm has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.12. Estée Lauder Companies has a 1-year low of $62.29 and a 1-year high of $159.75.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 1.31%. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 250.00%.

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