Connective Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL)

Connective Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 11,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,000. Estée Lauder Companies comprises approximately 1.0% of Connective Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,240,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,046,000 after acquiring an additional 241,903 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Estée Lauder Companies by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 236,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 17,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Estée Lauder Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,222,000. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the subject of several research reports. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Estée Lauder Companies in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Estée Lauder Companies from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Nineteen investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.20.

Estée Lauder Companies Stock Up 1.2%

EL opened at $66.11 on Wednesday. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.37 and a fifty-two week high of $133.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.90, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.12.

Estée Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.36. 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 $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Estée Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Estée Lauder Companies’s payout ratio is -57.85%.

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