Brokerages Set Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Price Target at $284.62

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $284.62.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $280.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL stock opened at $196.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.44. Ralph Lauren has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33. The firm has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. On average, analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.11%.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 70.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,436 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 17.7% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,848 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,465 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 121,139 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $23,485,000 after purchasing an additional 54,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth $331,000. 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.