Nomura Holdings Inc. Acquires New Shares in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,322 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,978 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $507,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $272,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,274 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,097 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $4,195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL traded up $11.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $285.19. The stock had a trading volume of 346,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,070. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $229.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $155.96 and a fifty-two week high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.9125 dividend. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.