Estee Lauder Companies Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:EL)

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 9,268 call options on the company. This is an increase of 62% compared to the average volume of 5,717 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Estee Lauder Companies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 185.3% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,140,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,596,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286,875 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 4,281.3% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 4,094,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,094,761,000 after purchasing an additional 4,001,300 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Estee Lauder Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $308,912,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Estee Lauder Companies by 16,270.3% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,667,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3,181.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,312,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,062 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EL. Zacks Research cut shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.76.

Estee Lauder Companies Price Performance

Shares of EL traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,932,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,632,542. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. Estee Lauder Companies has a one year low of $48.37 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -147.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.74.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.05. Estee Lauder Companies had a positive return on equity of 17.59% and a negative net margin of 1.21%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. Estee Lauder Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Estee Lauder Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.230 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -280.00%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

Estée Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE: EL) is a global leader in prestige beauty that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. Founded in 1946 by Estée Lauder, the company has grown from a small family business into a multinational consumer-products enterprise headquartered in New York City. Its activities span product research and development, brand and product marketing, manufacturing and global distribution across multiple retail channels.

The company’s portfolio includes a mix of legacy and prestige brands that target different consumer segments and price points, with well-known names such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone among others.