Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 12,600 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Two Sigma Advisers LP decreased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 24.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,600 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 12,600 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.06% of Ralph Lauren worth $8,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RL. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $285,841,000 after buying an additional 289,924 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 671.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,239 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $31,637,000 after acquiring an additional 118,569 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,788,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on RL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $260.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL traded down $4.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $279.76. The company had a trading volume of 168,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 828,125. The firm has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $231.74 and a 200-day moving average of $236.91. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $293.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.