Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

RL has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.76.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock opened at $315.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $296.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.12. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. Ralph Lauren has a 1-year low of $176.61 and a 1-year high of $321.77.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 29.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RL. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $264,225,000 after acquiring an additional 952,681 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 55.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,867 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $245,468,000 after acquiring an additional 414,275 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 118.3% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 388,138 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,458,000 after acquiring an additional 210,343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

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.