Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. significantly increased its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation, boosting its position by 101.3% during the 1st quarter, bringing its total holdings to 4,414 shares valued at $1,010,000.
• Ralph Lauren reported a 13.7% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $3.77 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates.
• The company's Board approved a $1.50 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the ongoing value of its shares.

Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 101.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,414 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,367 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 93.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $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% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 348 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on RL. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Ralph Lauren to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE RL traded up $0.4160 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $285.8760. 594,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,843. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $286.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 1-year low of $167.32 and a 1-year high of $306.34.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 10.91%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to reacquire 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 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.