Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE RL traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $207.85. 635,917 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 859,827. Ralph Lauren has a 12-month low of $120.95 and a 12-month high of $237.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $197.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.30. The firm has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ralph Lauren will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ralph Lauren

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 708.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,020 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 124.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,173 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 17,827 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 891.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 267.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,804 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 385,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,398,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.