Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Plans $0.75 Quarterly Dividend

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 17th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the textile maker on Friday, April 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%.

Ralph Lauren has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Ralph Lauren has a payout ratio of 32.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ralph Lauren to earn $9.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.4%.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE RL opened at $110.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.37. Ralph Lauren has a 52 week low of $82.23 and a 52 week high of $128.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $119.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.84.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The textile maker reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.44. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 8.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RL. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. Cowen lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Ralph Lauren from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.86.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 18,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $2,220,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,499,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 36.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 6.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,086 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 2,810 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at $283,000. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.09% of the company’s stock.

About Ralph Lauren

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Ralph Lauren Corp. engages in the design, marketing, and distribution of premium lifestyle products. The firm offers apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and other licensed products. It operates through the following segments: North America, Europe, and Asia. The North America segment consists of sales of Ralph Lauren branded apparel, accessories, home furnishings, and related products made through the Company’s wholesale and retail businesses in the U.S.