Ralph Lauren Co. (RL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on April 14th

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.75 per share by the textile maker on Friday, April 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%.

Ralph Lauren has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Ralph Lauren has a payout ratio of 32.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ralph Lauren to earn $9.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.4%.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $110.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.27 and its 200 day moving average is $105.84. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $82.23 and a one year high of $128.94.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The textile maker reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 18,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $2,312,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 202,332 shares in the company, valued at $25,291,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 36.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 6.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,086 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 3,735 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 89.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 916 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Bank of America upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Cowen increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.86.

About Ralph Lauren

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Ralph Lauren Corp. engages in the design, marketing, and distribution of premium lifestyle products. The firm offers apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and other licensed products. It operates through the following segments: North America, Europe, and Asia. The North America segment consists of sales of Ralph Lauren branded apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and related products made through the Company’s wholesale and retail businesses in the U.S.