Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,423 shares of the textile maker's stock after buying an additional 8,594 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.12% of Ralph Lauren worth $16,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position 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 buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,005 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 446 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 347 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of RL stock opened at $274.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $238.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.44. Ralph Lauren Co. has a twelve month low of $155.96 and a twelve month high of $289.33. The company has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.9125 dividend. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren's payout ratio is 31.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

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.

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