Ralph Lauren Co. (RL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.91 on July 11th

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.9125 per share by the textile maker on Friday, July 11th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a 10.6% increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83.

Ralph Lauren has increased its dividend by an average of 16.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Ralph Lauren has a payout ratio of 21.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ralph Lauren to earn $13.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $273.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.59. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. Ralph Lauren has a 52 week low of $155.96 and a 52 week high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,369 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 5.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,432 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 29.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,812 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,334 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $335.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.