Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $195.00 price objective on the textile maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ralph Lauren from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $158.92.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $163.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.03. Ralph Lauren has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $192.03.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 8.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.35 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.