Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Ralph Lauren's stock rating has been downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen.
• Despite the downgrade, several analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with Wells Fargo increasing it to $320.00 and Bank of America to $328.00.
• Ralph Lauren's recent earnings report showed a profit of $3.77 per share, exceeding expectations and representing year-over-year revenue growth of 13.7%.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

RL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $307.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE RL traded up $3.53 on Friday, reaching $316.11. 581,480 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,715. The firm has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $295.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.89. Ralph Lauren has a fifty-two week low of $173.59 and a fifty-two week high of $321.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 1,228.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 93 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

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.