Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 28.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,237,975 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 502,235 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $327,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 1,900.0% in 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. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC bought a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EL. Bank of America upgraded shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Raymond James raised their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.17.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

EL stock traded down $0.66 on Monday, hitting $146.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,126,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,639,545. The stock has a market cap of $52.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. 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 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $250.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.22.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.33. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 203.08%.

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.