2,400 Shares in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RL. CWM LLC raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 25.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 576 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 7.2% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,581 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 52.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 46,554 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after purchasing an additional 16,083 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 6.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 442,295 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $51,346,000 after buying an additional 28,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RL shares. StockNews.com raised Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.92.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

NYSE:RL opened at $163.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $192.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.64. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 25.88%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.01%.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.