Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Shares Acquired by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 66.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,731 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,684 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 528 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. First Interstate Bank purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter worth $319,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 150,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $51,598,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.07.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL opened at $395.36 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $377.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.79. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1 year low of $273.04 and a 1 year high of $421.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 26.47%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.