The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Position Boosted by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 7.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 278.2% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EL. Wall Street Zen cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, May 2nd. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.15.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 3.7%

Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $68.74 on Friday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.37 and a 52 week high of $125.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a PE ratio of -35.25, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is presently -57.85%.

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.