Impax Asset Management Group plc Grows Stock Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 83,498 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,688 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $8,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EL. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Estée Lauder Companies by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 20.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,017,000 after acquiring an additional 15,348 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $180.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Estée Lauder Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Estée Lauder Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.90.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Down 1.6 %

EL stock opened at $63.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 113.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.05. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.29 and a 12 month high of $159.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lynn Forester sold 3,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.61, for a total value of $364,142.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,423,714.49. This represents a 20.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fabrizio Freda sold 10,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,045,982.88. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,296 shares of company stock worth $1,423,366. 12.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.