King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp has reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 13.2%, selling 20,428 shares and owning approximately 0.22% of the company worth $29.68 million.
• Ralph Lauren reported a significant increase in quarterly revenue, with a 13.7% year-over-year growth and earnings per share exceeding estimates at $3.77.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.9125 per share and initiated a stock buyback plan of $1.50 billion, indicating a belief that its shares are undervalued.

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 134,439 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 20,428 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.22% of Ralph Lauren worth $29,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 43,370 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $10,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 962.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 680 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,836 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $3,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 83,753 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $19,345,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,054,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Cfra Research raised Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL traded down $2.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $288.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 329,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 872,862. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $306.34. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $283.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.53.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Ralph Lauren

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.