HS Management Partners LLC Sells 14,410 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

HS Management Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 248,509 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 14,410 shares during the quarter. Ralph Lauren makes up 4.4% of HS Management Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. HS Management Partners LLC owned 0.40% of Ralph Lauren worth $54,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter worth approximately $325,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the first quarter worth $771,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the first quarter worth $39,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 16.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 565,687 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $124,870,000 after buying an additional 79,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the first quarter worth $240,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ralph Lauren from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of RL stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $289.99. 281,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 797,457. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $295.52. The firm has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.49. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $276.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren 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.