Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $284.62.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RL. Barclays lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Raymond James lowered Ralph Lauren from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $310.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL traded up $5.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $220.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,569,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,009. The business has a 50-day moving average of $251.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The company has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

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Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 30.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RL. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $489,795,000 after purchasing an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $285,841,000 after acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $227,085,000 after acquiring an additional 65,303 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

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.