Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,075 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,665 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,075 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 17.6% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 347 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on RL. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock traded up $5.24 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $285.05. The company had a trading volume of 284,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,952. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.85. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 31.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

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.