Intact Investment Management Inc. Sells 4,500 Shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Estée Lauder Companies were worth $2,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 11.3% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 517.6% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 46,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 39,082 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 221.9% during the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 62,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,075,000 after purchasing an additional 43,280 shares during the last quarter. YCG LLC lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. YCG LLC now owns 178,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,068,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 37.1% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,411,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,776,000 after purchasing an additional 381,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

EL stock traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,435,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,077. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $146.86 and its 200-day moving average is $138.23. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 113.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.96 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.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. Estée Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 3.08%. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. On average, 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Estée Lauder Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.17.

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, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.