Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Grows Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the quarter. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for 0.1% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 boosted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 3,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in Estée Lauder Companies by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 148,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,668,000 after buying an additional 87,880 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 11,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $504,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 369,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,989,000 after acquiring an additional 6,095 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Estée Lauder Companies Price Performance

NYSE EL traded up $8.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $154.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,968,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,589. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.80, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.07. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.22 and a twelve month high of $260.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.46 and its 200 day moving average is $138.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Estée Lauder Companies from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Estée Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

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.