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

Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $428.2857.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $437.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $425.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 265,601 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $83,282,000 after buying an additional 18,355 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $899,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 116.9% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 47,445 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $14,877,000 after buying an additional 25,569 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 25,578 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 6,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 177.9% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,701 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $19,343,000 after purchasing an additional 35,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE RL opened at $371.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $357.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $357.25. Ralph Lauren has a 52 week low of $258.13 and a 52 week high of $393.41.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 18.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.16%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.