Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 159,969 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 41.3%, selling 159,969 shares and owning 227,152 shares valued at $50.12 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Ralph Lauren has received mixed analyst ratings, with two upgrades to strong buy, while others downgraded their ratings, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $307.88.
• Ralph Lauren's most recent earnings results surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $3.77 earnings per share on revenue of $1.72 billion, up 13.7% year-over-year.

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 41.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,152 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 159,969 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Ralph Lauren worth $50,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter valued at about $248,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.5% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,590 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $4,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the period. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,872,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.8% during the first quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 300,837 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $66,407,000 after purchasing an additional 21,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 31.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 171,141 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $37,778,000 after acquiring an additional 40,977 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $315.23. 518,095 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,186. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12-month low of $176.61 and a 12-month high of $321.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $296.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.12.

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

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 26th will be given a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RL. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Zacks Research raised Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $308.76.

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.