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

Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.42.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $202.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In related news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total transaction of $11,515,363.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1,775.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock opened at $168.10 on Tuesday. Ralph Lauren has a twelve month low of $108.60 and a twelve month high of $192.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.54 and its 200-day moving average is $170.60.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.95%.

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.