Ralph Lauren Co. (RL) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 28th

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.825 per share by the textile maker on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th.

Ralph Lauren has raised its dividend by an average of 16.1% annually over the last three years. Ralph Lauren has a payout ratio of 21.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ralph Lauren to earn $13.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.2%.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of RL opened at $231.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50. Ralph Lauren has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.47.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ralph Lauren will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on RL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $280.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.62.

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.