Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $310.00 price objective on the textile maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas raised Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 target price on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.33.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $273.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $241.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.36.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 30.11%.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 15.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,952 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 93.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,803 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $357,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 38.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 533 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 4.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 64,743 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $12,552,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. 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.