Groupe la Francaise Grows Holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its ownership in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 7.9%, acquiring an additional 4,432 shares to hold a total of 60,741 shares worth approximately $13.68 million.
• Ralph Lauren recently reported $3.77 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, with a 13.7% year-over-year increase in revenue to $1.72 billion.
• The company has authorized a stock buyback plan of $1.50 billion, allowing repurchase of up to 8.8% of its stock, indicating confidence from its board in the share's valuation.

Groupe la Francaise raised its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,741 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise owned 0.10% of Ralph Lauren worth $13,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 178.0% in the first 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 180.3% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 171 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 74.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. 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 research report on Monday, July 28th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $294.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 613,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 861,165. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $167.32 and a fifty-two week high of $306.34. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $287.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management 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.