Brokerages Set Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) PT at $228.09

Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $228.09.

Several analysts have recently commented on RL shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus raised 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.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $240.31 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $227.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.60. Ralph Lauren has a 1-year low of $134.90 and a 1-year high of $245.92.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.0% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,570 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 142,673 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $24,976,000 after buying an additional 10,826 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1,308.8% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 479 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 929.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 772 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.