Burney Co. Cuts Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Burney Co. reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren by 27.4% in the first quarter, selling 10,334 shares and leaving it with 27,399 shares valued at about $9.43 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on RL, with 15 analysts rating it a Buy and a consensus price target of $430.07. Recent calls from Citigroup, Needham, Barclays, and BTIG were all bullish, with targets as high as $450.
• Ralph Lauren reported strong quarterly results and raised its dividend, posting EPS of $2.80 versus $2.52 expected and revenue of $1.98 billion versus $1.85 billion expected. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share from $0.91.

Burney Co. lessened its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,399 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 10,334 shares during the period. Burney Co.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $9,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $264,225,000 after buying an additional 952,681 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,324,018 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $468,186,000 after buying an additional 275,263 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 895,017 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $316,487,000 after acquiring an additional 255,511 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 881,360 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $311,658,000 after acquiring an additional 245,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 586,225 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $207,295,000 after acquiring an additional 242,386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RL shares. Citigroup raised Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $430.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $430.07.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $396.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.34. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1 year low of $273.04 and a 1 year high of $421.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $376.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $365.12.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 11.60%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.47%.

Ralph Lauren Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation NYSE: RL is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men's neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren's product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.

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