Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $391.5625.

RL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $422.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 5th.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In related news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 38.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 73,457 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $26,136,000 after buying an additional 7,296 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,427,000 after buying an additional 4,865 shares in the last quarter. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,013,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.7%

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $377.04 on Thursday. Ralph Lauren has a twelve month low of $196.57 and a twelve month high of $389.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $354.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $348.78. The company has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th were paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.