Longbow Finance SA Buys New Shares in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA has invested approximately $4.68 million in Ralph Lauren Corporation by purchasing 21,209 shares, marking a significant new stake in the textile maker.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with Wells Fargo increasing it from $300 to $320 and Goldman Sachs lifting theirs from $262 to $324, indicating a generally optimistic outlook on the stock.
• Ralph Lauren has announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.83 to $0.9125 per share, reflecting confidence in its financial health with a payout ratio of 31.44% and a 1.23% dividend yield.

Longbow Finance SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 21,209 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RL. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $285,841,000 after acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $56,132,000 after acquiring an additional 253,244 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,517,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 671.0% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,239 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $31,637,000 after acquiring an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on RL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cfra Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.13.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 1.0%

RL traded up $3.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $298.43. 446,719 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,971. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $278.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $299.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.9125 dividend. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is 31.44%.

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

Ralph Lauren Company 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.