Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27, Briefing.com reports. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE RL opened at $273.92 on Friday. Ralph Lauren has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.11%.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 0.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,334 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,723,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 29.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,812 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 5.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,432 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 39.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,369 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on RL. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday. Cfra Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.88.

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.