PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Makes New Investment in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Key Points

• PFA Pension bought a new position of 5,061 shares in Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) in Q4, valued at about $1.815 million, amid broad institutional ownership (67.91%) and other funds trimming or adding to their stakes.
• Ralph Lauren beat quarterly estimates with $6.22 EPS vs. $5.80 and $2.41B revenue (up 12.2% YoY), and analysts remain largely positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $399.19.
• CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares for roughly $16.65M (cutting his stake by ~35.5%), while the company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.9125 (annualized $3.65, ~1.0% yield).

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,061 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,815,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,432 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 0.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,334 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $2,723,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 39.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,369 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 29.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,812 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the second quarter worth approximately $386,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE RL opened at $354.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $357.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.79. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $230.63 and a 52 week high of $393.41.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. Ralph Lauren's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 16.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th were paid a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of Ralph Lauren stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total value of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at $30,304,229.44. This trade represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 38.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RL shares. Argus upped their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $416.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $420.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $399.19.

Ralph Lauren Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation NYSE: RL is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men's neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren's product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.