Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on RL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 target price (up previously from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL opened at $312.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.60. Ralph Lauren has a 52-week low of $169.93 and a 52-week high of $321.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $292.55 and its 200-day moving average is $261.05.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%.Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $264,225,000 after purchasing an additional 952,681 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,867 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $245,468,000 after purchasing an additional 414,275 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $333,958,000 after purchasing an additional 275,391 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $56,132,000 after purchasing an additional 253,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 118.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 388,138 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $106,458,000 after purchasing an additional 210,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.