Quantbot Technologies LP Invests $632,000 in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired 2,861 shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation valued at approximately $632,000, marking a new position for the institutional investor in the first quarter.
• Ralph Lauren's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $3.77 EPS against an estimate of $3.50, with revenue increasing by 13.7% year-over-year.
• The company's board has approved a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock's valuation among company leadership.

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,861 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,109 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $111,133,000 after buying an additional 6,981 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,630 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $2,455,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 14,121 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $3,262,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,111,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 168.0% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 1,563 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 3,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.2%

RL stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $297.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 578,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,403. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52-week low of $168.24 and a 52-week high of $306.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.80.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RL. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

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.