Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $136.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $162.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Friday, February 4th. Wedbush lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Monday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $142.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $141.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Friday, February 4th.

NYSE:RL opened at $112.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $117.27 and its 200-day moving average is $118.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.88. Ralph Lauren has a 52 week low of $100.44 and a 52 week high of $142.06. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.41.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 3rd. The textile maker reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.77. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 22.59%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 1st were paid a $0.6875 dividend. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 31st. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.23%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 17.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 123.8% in the third quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 453 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, IndexIQ Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. Institutional investors own 64.31% of the company’s stock.

About Ralph Lauren (Get Rating)

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, umbrellas, and belts, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, lighting, tabletop, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.

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