Burney Co. Cuts Stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• Burney Co. significantly reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 79.8%, owning only 4,986 shares after selling 19,740 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ralph Lauren, with Goldman Sachs raising the target price to $324, while Cfra Research downgraded it from "hold" to "moderate sell", resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Ralph Lauren recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.9125 per share and authorized a share repurchase program allowing for up to $1.50 billion in repurchases, indicating confidence in the company's valuation.

Burney Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 79.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,986 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 19,740 shares during the period. Burney Co.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 93.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 347 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.13.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:RL traded up $3.08 on Friday, reaching $298.43. The company had a trading volume of 446,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,971. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $299.02. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $278.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 31.44%.

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

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.