The Jones Group will still eye the international markets for growth, where lies a great opportunity for the company. For the past four years, the number of international stores grew by more than nine times, to 335 stores in 2012. It also intends to open around 34 more stores by the middle of its fiscal 2013 overseas, focusing on the huge Chinese retail market.
Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) also has a lower valuation than PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH). At $174.40 per share, Ralph Lauren is worth around $15.8 billion. The market values Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL) at around 10.8 times EV/EBITDA. Recently, Ralph Lauren reported an impressive full year fiscal 2013. Revenue was up slightly, from $6.68 billion in 2012 to more than $6.76 billion in 2013. Net income saw 10.1% year-over-year growth to $750 million, or $8 per share.
Ralph Lauren, the company’s chairman and CEO, felt excited about the full year 2013 results. He said: “We achieved record sales and profit levels in fiscal 2013. Our relentless focus on innovation and our commitment to superior craftsmanship continued to build our global customer base.” He also believed that the company will have quite a few exciting years, when it could grow its total global base store network and e-commerce platform.
Indeed, it already had online platforms in some European markets including Spain, Portugal and Greece. Ralph Lauren has the target to launch its e-commerce in the most populated market in the world, China. Going forward, Ralph Lauren is expected to do well in China by providing consumers the “pyramid of brands” so consumers could start at its entry level and move up to the more expensive product lines.
Investors might like The Jones Group most, with its dividend yield at 1.4%. Ralph Lauren ranked second with 0.9% dividend yield while PVH offers investors at only 0.1%.
My Foolish take
PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH), at 12.4 times EV/EBITDA, does not seem to be cheap at its current trading price. Among the three companies, I like Ralph Lauren the most due to its reasonable valuation and decent dividend yield. With its continuing business expansion initiatives in China, Ralph Lauren could be a nice buy for long-term investors.
The article Is This Apparel Company a Good Buy? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Anh Hoang.
Anh HOANG has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Anh is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
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