Vest Financial LLC Buys 5,149 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) by 48.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,709 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,149 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,237,512 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $285,841,000 after purchasing an additional 289,924 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 24,164.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 254,292 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $56,132,000 after buying an additional 253,244 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,415,473 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $326,946,000 after acquiring an additional 205,121 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 671.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,788,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company's stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of RL stock opened at $274.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The company has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $238.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.17.

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

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.9125 per share. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cfra Research cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $250.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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