Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 237,452 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,787 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of Ralph Lauren worth $54,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RL. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $5,711,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,014,000. Amundi boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $47,444,000 after buying an additional 14,889 shares during the period. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,872,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen raised 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. StockNews.com lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $272.14.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock traded down $2.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $248.85. 680,813 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 840,657. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.78. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 30.11%.

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.