Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Buys Shares of 2,294 Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC has taken a new position in Ralph Lauren Corporation, acquiring 2,294 shares valued at approximately $506,000 during the first quarter.
• Ralph Lauren recently reported earnings per share of $3.77, beating consensus estimates, and had a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.7%.
• The firm announced a new quarterly dividend increase to $0.9125 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders amid strong performance.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,294 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 178.0% in the 1st 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. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 74.4% in the 1st 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. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 175.0% in the 1st quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 275 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RL shares. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL traded up $0.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $288.61. The stock had a trading volume of 595,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,235. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 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 1-year low of $157.84 and a 1-year high of $306.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $282.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $256.51.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

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.