Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Stake Lowered by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation by 6.2%, now owning approximately 0.07% of the company, worth $9.45 million.
• Invesco Ltd. and GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased their stakes in Ralph Lauren by 22.3% and 24,164.5% respectively in the first quarter.
• Ralph Lauren reported $3.77 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, while also announcing a share repurchase plan of $1.50 billion.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,832 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 2,839 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.07% of Ralph Lauren worth $9,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 70,544 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 22.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,903 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $333,958,000 after buying an additional 275,391 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.5% in 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 481,109 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $111,133,000 after buying an additional 6,981 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 429,870 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $99,291,000 after buying an additional 53,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RL. Bank of America upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $355.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $385.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.41.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 1.0%

Ralph Lauren stock traded up $3.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $297.67. The stock had a trading volume of 443,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 858,672. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $168.24 and a 12 month high of $306.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $287.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.65.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during 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%.Ralph Lauren's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

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