Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Trims Stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,848 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $5,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,626,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,479,000 after buying an additional 140,488 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,483,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,085,000 after purchasing an additional 254,198 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,720,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,982 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,080,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,265,000 after purchasing an additional 51,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:EL traded up $2.46 on Friday, reaching $147.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,428,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,876. The firm has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.36 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $146.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.25.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS 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 prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Estée Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Estée Lauder Companies from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.17.

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.