HB Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 81.2% in Q1, holding 2,134 shares valued at $471,000.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Ralph Lauren, with targets ranging from $205.00 to $406.00, while the stock maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Ralph Lauren declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.9125 per share and initiated a $1.50 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 81.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,134 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 4.2% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 17.6% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 347 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on RL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $384.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.19.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.6%

RL traded down $4.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $293.88. 675,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 564,274. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $306.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $280.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.69. The company has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.