Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $292.88.

Several research firms have recently commented on RL. UBS Group set a $384.00 price objective on Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock opened at $285.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $266.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.23.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RL. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 55.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,867 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $245,468,000 after buying an additional 414,275 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $285,841,000 after buying an additional 289,924 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $56,132,000 after buying an additional 253,244 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during 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 period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,517,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.