Continental Grain Co. Takes Position in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Continental Grain Co. acquired a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 387,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,077,000. Estée Lauder Companies accounts for 9.9% of Continental Grain Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $8,585,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Estée Lauder Companies by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 141,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,392,000 after purchasing an additional 45,687 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 91,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,838,000 after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Estée Lauder Companies

In other Estée Lauder Companies news, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 43,000 shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.35 per share, for a total transaction of $2,853,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 430,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,583,580. This trade represents a 11.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Akhil Shrivastava purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.79 per share, for a total transaction of $46,053.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,645.99. This trade represents a 41.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.57.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Estée Lauder Companies stock opened at $54.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.64. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.37 and a 12 month high of $149.91.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.30. Estée Lauder Companies had a negative net margin of 4.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.82%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Estée Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.79%.

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