The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) Shares Acquired by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,564 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,425 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $1,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EL. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,512,982 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 35.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,311,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,730,000 after buying an additional 1,387,271 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 132.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,735,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,901,000 after buying an additional 988,829 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $95,085,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies during the third quarter valued at $69,047,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised Estée Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.00.

Estée Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of EL opened at $147.36 on Thursday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.22 and a 12-month high of $253.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $146.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.16.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.