Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus "Moderate Buy": Twenty brokers cover RL (16 buy, 1 strong buy, 2 hold, 1 sell) with a 12‑month average target of $391.56 and recent price‑target upgrades from firms including Citigroup, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.
• CEO insider sale: CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares on Feb. 10 for about $16.65M, reducing his holding by 35.46%, while insiders collectively own roughly 38.34% of the stock.
• Strong quarter and dividend: Ralph Lauren beat Q results ($6.22 EPS vs $5.80 est.; revenue $2.41B, +12.2% YoY) with an 11.73% net margin and 37.97% ROE, and announced a $0.9125 quarterly dividend ($3.65 annual, ~1.0% yield).

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $391.5625.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $422.00 price objective on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 38.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,324,018 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $468,186,000 after purchasing an additional 275,263 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,050,543 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $370,852,000 after purchasing an additional 54,686 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $264,225,000 after purchasing an additional 952,681 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 941,832 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $295,321,000 after purchasing an additional 98,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 895,017 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $316,487,000 after purchasing an additional 255,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE RL opened at $375.56 on Thursday. Ralph Lauren has a 12 month low of $176.61 and a 12 month high of $389.15. The stock has a market cap of $22.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.46. The company's 50 day moving average is $352.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.82 EPS. Ralph Lauren's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is 24.85%.

About Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation NYSE: RL is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men's neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren's product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.

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