Simon Quick Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RL. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth $10,872,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth $3,014,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,444,000 after purchasing an additional 14,889 shares during the period. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth $6,872,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group set a $384.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ralph Lauren from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 2.7%

RL opened at $260.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $245.34 and a 200 day moving average of $242.15.

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

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.44%.

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.