Dover Advisors LLC Lowers Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Dover Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,943 shares of the company’s stock after selling 919 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 82.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL traded up $2.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $147.45. 2,435,850 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,077. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.22 and a 52-week high of $250.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.22. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Estée Lauder Companies 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.