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

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.88.

A number of analysts recently commented on RL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $10,872,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,014,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,444,000 after acquiring an additional 14,889 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,872,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $266.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. Ralph Lauren has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $243.77 and a 200-day moving average of $241.76.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.44%.

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