Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $285.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ralph Lauren traded as high as $257.90 and last traded at $257.63, with a volume of 613552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.71.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on RL. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 181.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.85.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

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.