Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 70.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,455 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1,270.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 281.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 202 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $236.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $249.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.24. The firm has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 30.11%.

Ralph Lauren Profile

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.