Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 48.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,709 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,149 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,182 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,542 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,630 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $274.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RL. UBS Group set a $384.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.88.

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.