Ralph Lauren Co. (RL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.83 on July 12th

Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 23rd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of 0.825 per share by the textile maker on Friday, July 12th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Ralph Lauren has raised its dividend payment by an average of 63.4% annually over the last three years. Ralph Lauren has a dividend payout ratio of 26.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ralph Lauren to earn $12.54 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 26.3%.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $182.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.52. Ralph Lauren has a one year low of $108.60 and a one year high of $192.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren will post 11.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ralph Lauren

In related news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total transaction of $11,515,363.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 39.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.