Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $310.00 price target on the textile maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.94% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.33.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $272.06 on Wednesday. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $16.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $240.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.91.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RL. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth about $94,831,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 137,631 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at approximately $19,320,000. Atreides Management LP increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 377,481 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,182,000 after purchasing an additional 83,349 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $162,714,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.