The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,860,000 shares, a growth of 55.6% from the October 31st total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $95.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $98.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.57.

Insider Activity at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 75,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.93 per share, with a total value of $4,902,215.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 310,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,128,300. This represents a 32.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $743,259.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 295,838 shares in the company, valued at $20,045,982.88. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 33,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,218,000 after buying an additional 3,506 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 63,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,775,000 after buying an additional 3,533 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 24.6% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 494.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 20,750 shares during the period. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Estée Lauder Companies stock traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.12. 3,620,919 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,574,799. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.43 and its 200-day moving average is $96.20. Estée Lauder Companies has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The stock has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.79, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Estée Lauder Companies will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is 471.43%.

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