Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,690 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 1,678 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $6,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RL. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $285,841,000 after purchasing an additional 289,924 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $326,946,000 after purchasing an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 671.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,239 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $31,637,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth $20,788,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $249,361,000 after purchasing an additional 82,819 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 4.3%

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $286.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $230.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.59. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $155.96 and a 52 week high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

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.