Bank of America Increases Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Price Target to $328.00

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $318.00 to $328.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the textile maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on RL. Cfra Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $273.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $228.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.59. Ralph Lauren has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $289.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.9125 dividend. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 30.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at about $507,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at about $272,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,274 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,274 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.