Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 108.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,500 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 14,307 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $6,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 181.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on RL. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Argus raised Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.91.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $258.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.24. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $142.26 and a 52-week high of $260.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.46%.

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