Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Shares Bought by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 34.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,300 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.10% of Ralph Lauren worth $13,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $489,795,000 after purchasing an additional 70,544 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 942,720 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $217,750,000 after acquiring an additional 13,551 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 565,687 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $124,870,000 after acquiring an additional 79,934 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,109 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $111,133,000 after acquiring an additional 6,981 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $285.9390 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $167.32 and a twelve month high of $306.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $285.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on RL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Company 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.