Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $158.92.

RL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL opened at $165.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.27. Ralph Lauren has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $192.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.55.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 34.01%.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 11.1% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 63,743 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $11,968,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 322.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 30,839 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,760,000 after acquiring an additional 23,533 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter worth $974,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 2.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,378 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the first quarter valued at about $156,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ralph Lauren

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; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, 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, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.