CenterBook Partners LP Purchases Shares of 18,145 Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,145 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,005,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 281.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 202 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth $16,848,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,286 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RL traded up $1.96 on Thursday, hitting $286.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 531,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,174. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $295.52. The company has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $274.61 and a 200-day moving average of $249.74.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 31.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.