Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires New Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 169,962 shares of the textile maker's stock, valued at approximately $37,517,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.28% of Ralph Lauren as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth $10,872,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth $3,014,000. Amundi grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $47,444,000 after purchasing an additional 14,889 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth about $2,264,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,872,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group set a $384.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL stock opened at $274.86 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $238.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51.

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

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 $0.9125 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Ralph Lauren's dividend payout ratio is 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the textile maker to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.

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