Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on RL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $193.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $189.00.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of RL stock opened at $201.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $177.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.52. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $108.60 and a one year high of $202.89.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 28.79% and a net margin of 10.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 11.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of RL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $921,634,000 after acquiring an additional 203,495 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,255,482 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $235,662,000 after purchasing an additional 41,482 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12,493.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,002,344 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $175,470,000 after purchasing an additional 994,385 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 158.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,336 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $149,478,000 after purchasing an additional 528,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 42.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 638,502 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $111,760,000 after buying an additional 189,600 shares during the period. 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.