Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 12.1%, acquiring an additional 7,800 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Ralph Lauren reported earnings per share of $3.77 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.50, alongside a quarterly revenue of $1.72 billion.
• The company has initiated a $1.50 billion share buyback program, indicating that the board believes its stock is undervalued.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,196 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.12% of Ralph Lauren worth $15,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $333,958,000 after acquiring an additional 275,391 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter valued at $37,517,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter valued at $23,520,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at $20,788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.4%

RL stock traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $285.03. 195,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 866,225. The stock has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53. 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 fifty-two week low of $167.32 and a fifty-two week high of $306.34. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $285.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.53.

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

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.