Piper Jaffray Cuts Price Target on Ralph Lauren (RL) as CEO Ralph Lauren Announces Resignation

Piper Jaffray reiterated a Neutral rating on Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), and cut the price target to $116.00 (from $122.00), following CEO Ralph Lauren's announced resignation. The resignation will be effective in November. Mr. Stefan Larsson will join RL as CEO most recently serving as the Global Brand President of Old Navy and H&M prior.

Analyst Erinn Murphy commented, "We are maintaining our sidelines stance on RL but recognize the near-term direction of the stock will likely be higher following the unexpected announcement that Ralph Lauren himself will relinquish his reins as CEO effective in November. Mr. Stefan Larsson will join RL as CEO most recently serving as the Global Brand President of Old Navy and H&M prior. We believe this management transition was a tough decision but it needed to be done to usher in fresh outside talent; importantly, this could start to lessen historic concerns around corporate governance. We note our recent incoming call volume has been higher on RL fueled by long-only/value oriented investors. That said, our long-term fundamental concerns have not yet waned--we are concerned by slowing wholesale growth, weakening DTC trends (e-com & store traffic) and pricing integrity. For now, we will take a wait & observe approach on fundamental progress."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Ralph Lauren click here. For more ratings news on Ralph Lauren click here.

Shares of Ralph Lauren closed at $104.05 yesterday.

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