Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Upgraded at Cfra Research

Key Points

• Cfra Research upgraded Ralph Lauren's stock from a moderate sell to a hold rating, indicating a positive shift in investor sentiment.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with Goldman Sachs increasing theirs from $262 to $324, reflecting optimism about the company's financial performance.
• Ralph Lauren reported better-than-expected earnings of $3.77 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.7%.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Cfra Research from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up previously from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of RL traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $290.88. The company had a trading volume of 764,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,820. The company's 50-day moving average is $284.17 and its 200-day moving average is $257.87. Ralph Lauren has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $306.34. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,590 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $4,987,000 after buying an additional 2,684 shares during the last quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth $10,872,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 300,837 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,407,000 after purchasing an additional 21,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 237,479 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $52,421,000 after purchasing an additional 17,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

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.