Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $285.00. Guggenheim 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. The stock had previously closed at $247.71.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 181.7% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.85.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.46%.

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.