Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Receives $170.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.50.

RL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In related news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total value of $11,515,363.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,636,208.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 39.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $921,634,000 after purchasing an additional 203,495 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,255,482 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $235,662,000 after acquiring an additional 41,482 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 794,127 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $114,513,000 after acquiring an additional 331,413 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 474,332 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $68,399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,046 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,800,000 after purchasing an additional 23,441 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $175.06 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.52. Ralph Lauren has a 52-week low of $108.60 and a 52-week high of $192.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.04.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 30.86%.

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.