Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $280.00 to $285.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ralph Lauren traded as high as $257.90 and last traded at $257.63, with a volume of 613552 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.71.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on RL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,182 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,657 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 2.3% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 2,703 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,687 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 672 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 4.0 %

The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $231.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.93.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.46%.

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.

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