The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. $EL Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) by 52.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,578 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,707 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Estee Lauder Companies were worth $4,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 2.5% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 37.6% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 534 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 80.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 372 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 55.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded Estee Lauder Companies from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Estee Lauder Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Estee Lauder Companies from $131.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Estee Lauder Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.43.

Estee Lauder Companies Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of EL opened at $85.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -171.29, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.11. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.37 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL) last announced its 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 positive return on equity of 17.59% and a negative net margin of 1.21%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. The business’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. Analysts predict that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Estee Lauder Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -280.00%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

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.