Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $280.00 to $285.00. Jefferies Financial Group 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $247.71.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RL. StockNews.com upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price target on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 181.7% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.93.

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

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

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.