Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) Holdings Boosted by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300,837 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 21,681 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.49% of Ralph Lauren worth $66,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth $10,872,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at $3,014,000. Amundi increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $47,444,000 after acquiring an additional 14,889 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $6,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RL traded up $5.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $290.18. 351,616 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 810,929. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $291.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.01 and a 200-day moving average of $247.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Ralph Lauren announced that its board has approved 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 typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.9125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. 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%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.44%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.