Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 19.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,793 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 928 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $10,872,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $3,014,000. Amundi grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $47,444,000 after acquiring an additional 14,889 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter worth about $6,872,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RL. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:RL traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $267.53. 657,299 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 823,795. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $242.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management 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.