Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) hit a new 52-week high during 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $247.71.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on RL. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James downgraded Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.45.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at approximately $94,831,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 137,631 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 3,520.3% during the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 120,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $21,047,000 after acquiring an additional 116,910 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at $19,320,000. Finally, Atreides Management LP increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 28.3% in the third quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 377,481 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,182,000 after purchasing an additional 83,349 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 4.0 %

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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $232.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.46. The stock has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 31.46%.

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.