Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Shares Gap Down to $164.20

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $164.20, but opened at $160.02. Ralph Lauren shares last traded at $168.15, with a volume of 434,140 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RL. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.08.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $171.11 and a 200 day moving average of $156.00. The company has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.55.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 25.88%. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ralph Lauren

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,214,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $175,001,000 after acquiring an additional 487,882 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 80,043 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $11,542,000 after purchasing an additional 33,489 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,761 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 64.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 123,638 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $14,353,000 after buying an additional 48,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,478,000. 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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.