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 activity on Monday. Investors bought 12,631 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 101% compared to the average daily volume of 6,290 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Estee Lauder Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 324 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 10,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. 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 research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.95.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:EL traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $76.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 920,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,617,705. Estee Lauder Companies has a fifty-two week low of $52.51 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.15 and its 200-day moving average is $97.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -152.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.26.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. Estee Lauder Companies’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Estee Lauder Companies will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -280.00%.

Estee Lauder Companies Company Profile

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.