Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $241.43 and last traded at $241.12, with a volume of 41909 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $234.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on RL shares. Argus raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.27.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12,493.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,002,344 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $175,470,000 after purchasing an additional 994,385 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 158.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,336 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $149,478,000 after buying an additional 528,778 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $94,831,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3,520.3% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 120,231 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $21,047,000 after buying an additional 116,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $19,320,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.