Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Price Target Raised to $300.00

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $300.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the textile maker's stock.

RL has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $262.00 price target on Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cfra Research lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL traded down $2.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $284.16. 592,639 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 832,760. The company has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $230.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.59. Ralph Lauren has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 31.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 93.7% during the first 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. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 1,270.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 178.0% during the 1st quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 180.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 171 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. 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.