Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Shares Bought by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,799 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 1,270.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 281.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 202 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 22,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd now owns 226 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $384.00 price target on Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of RL stock traded down $4.03 on Friday, hitting $263.78. 1,202,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 818,676. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.78. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $289.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $252.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.51.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 31.76%. Ralph Lauren's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.42%.

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.