Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $1.02 Million Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 53.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,626 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 5,377 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,120,508 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $489,795,000 after buying an additional 70,544 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $285,841,000 after acquiring an additional 289,924 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 982,927 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $227,085,000 after acquiring an additional 65,303 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 2.4%

RL opened at $270.54 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $253.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.77. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The company has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.51. 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 (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. Analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to reacquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.9125 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group set a $384.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

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.

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