Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Stake Boosted by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 639.5% in Q1, owning 57,500 shares valued at approximately $12.69 million.
• Ralph Lauren's recent quarterly earnings report showed a 13.7% revenue increase year-over-year, with an EPS of $3.77, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.50.
• The company has launched a $1.50 billion stock buyback plan, potentially indicating that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 639.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,500 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 49,724 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.09% of Ralph Lauren worth $12,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 178.0% in the first quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 180.3% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 171 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 74.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:RL traded down $0.56 during trading on Monday, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $168.24 and a fifty-two week high of $306.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $288.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.80. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Company 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.