Citigroup Inc. Increases Stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. has increased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 29.5%, acquiring an additional 40,101 shares to now own a total of 176,069 shares valued at approximately $38.87 million.
• Ralph Lauren announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.9125 per share from the previous $0.83, representing a 1.3% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 29.15%.
• Multiple analyst firms have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target from $355 to $406, while maintaining an "overweight" rating for the stock.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 29.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,069 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 40,101 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.29% of Ralph Lauren worth $38,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RL. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $489,795,000 after purchasing an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 942,720 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $217,750,000 after purchasing an additional 13,551 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 565,687 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $124,870,000 after purchasing an additional 79,934 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,109 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $111,133,000 after purchasing an additional 6,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 429,870 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $99,291,000 after purchasing an additional 53,241 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on RL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up previously from $321.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE RL traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $290.88. The stock had a trading volume of 764,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,820. The business's 50 day moving average is $284.17 and its 200-day moving average is $257.87. The company has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $161.43 and a 52 week high of $306.34. 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 (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 33.72%. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.