Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

RL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $202.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $198.61 and its 200-day moving average is $181.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Ralph Lauren has a 12 month low of $120.95 and a 12 month high of $237.16.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.46%.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 12,493.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,002,344 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $175,470,000 after buying an additional 994,385 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 158.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,336 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $149,478,000 after buying an additional 528,778 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter valued at $61,022,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $921,634,000 after purchasing an additional 203,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 638,502 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $111,760,000 after buying an additional 189,600 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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