Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 46.8%, now holding 1,886 shares valued at $416,000.
• Ralph Lauren announced a $1.50 billion share buyback program, allowing for the repurchase of up to 8.8% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9125, with an annualized yield of 1.20%, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.83.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lessened its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 46.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,886 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 1,658 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 34,658 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $7,650,000 after purchasing an additional 15,510 shares during the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 175.0% in the 1st quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 275 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,762 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on RL shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $298.19.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of RL stock traded down $4.87 on Friday, reaching $293.88. 675,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 564,274. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $306.34. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.49. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $280.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.57.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.