Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE RL opened at $207.12 on Monday. Ralph Lauren has a 12 month low of $120.95 and a 12 month high of $237.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 10.15%. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 124.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,173 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 17,827 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 322.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 30,839 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,760,000 after buying an additional 23,533 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $921,634,000 after acquiring an additional 203,495 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 130.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 184.5% in the 1st quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 5,594 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

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.