$1.46 Billion in Sales Expected for Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) This Quarter

Equities research analysts expect Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) to announce sales of $1.46 billion for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Five analysts have provided estimates for Ralph Lauren’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $1.47 billion and the lowest is $1.43 billion. Ralph Lauren reported sales of $1.29 billion during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 13.2%. The business is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings report before the market opens on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will report full year sales of $6.15 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $6.12 billion to $6.16 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the company will report sales of $6.39 billion, with estimates ranging from $6.33 billion to $6.44 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that that provide coverage for Ralph Lauren.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 3rd. The textile maker reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 22.59%. The business’s revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS.

RL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.00.

Shares of RL opened at $107.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 1.38. Ralph Lauren has a 52-week low of $100.44 and a 52-week high of $142.06.

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

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.6875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 31st. This represents a $2.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.23%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 58.3% in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 202,492 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $23,855,000 after acquiring an additional 74,615 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,808 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 6.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 2,133 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 17,046 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 99.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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