UBS Group Reiterates $384.00 Price Target for Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL)

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) has been given a $384.00 price objective by UBS Group in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the textile maker’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 40.19% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.3%

RL opened at $273.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $228.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.88. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RL. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,867 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $245,468,000 after purchasing an additional 414,275 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,841,000 after buying an additional 289,924 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $56,132,000 after buying an additional 253,244 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $326,946,000 after buying an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,517,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

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, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.