Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Acquires New Shares in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 926 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RL. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $285,841,000 after acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $227,085,000 after purchasing an additional 65,303 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on RL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.3%

RL stock traded down $3.75 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $278.07. The company had a trading volume of 572,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 823,803. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $235.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.96. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.44%.

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.