Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $384.00 to $385.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ralph Lauren traded as high as $303.64 and last traded at $301.81, with a volume of 576851 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $298.23.

RL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.19.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 55.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,867 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $245,468,000 after buying an additional 414,275 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $285,841,000 after buying an additional 289,924 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $56,132,000 after buying an additional 253,244 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 118.3% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 388,138 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $106,458,000 after buying an additional 210,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $326,946,000 after buying an additional 205,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 31.76%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.9125 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.