Wells Fargo & Company Raises Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Price Target to $195.00

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $195.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the textile maker’s stock.

RL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Argus reiterated a hold rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $196.00 to $193.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ralph Lauren from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $189.00.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL opened at $196.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Ralph Lauren has a 12 month low of $108.60 and a 12 month high of $200.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.25. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 10.27%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 11.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 1,775.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.