Goldman Sachs upgraded RL to "buy" from "neutral"
Retail stock Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) received an upgrade from Goldman Sachs to "buy" from "neutral" this morning, with a price-target hike to $286 from $280. The firm cited the New York-based company's limited exposure to tariffs in comparison to its peers in the fashion industry. Meanwhile, reports show Raymond James bought up 72,942 shares of RL in the fourth quarter, which amounts to over $16 million. Despite the lofty upgrade, RL was last seen only 0.5% higher to trade at $220.96, paring larger premarket gains.
On the charts, the stock has yet to recover from an extended slide in early March, though the 160-day moving average has provided a floor for the past week. Now much further removed from their Feb. 6 record high of $289.33, the shares are down 4.4% year-to-date.
After RL's most recent pullback, its 14-day relative strength index (RSI) checked in at 21.7 last night, firmly in "oversold" territory, which typically precedes a short-term bounce. Plus, short interest now represents 4.9% of the stock's available float, so keep an eye out for a short squeeze going forward.
Options bulls appear to be targeting RL straight out of the gate this morning. The stock has seen eight times the call volume typically seen at this point, with the most activity at the March 230 call.