Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Purchased by Boston Partners

Boston Partners boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 982,927 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,303 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.58% of Ralph Lauren worth $227,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RL. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $94,831,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 137,631 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the third quarter valued at about $19,320,000. Atreides Management LP grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 28.3% during the third quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 377,481 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,182,000 after acquiring an additional 83,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $162,714,000 after acquiring an additional 78,008 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RL. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $280.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $219.52 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $253.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.51. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $155.96 and a 52-week high of $289.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.11%.

Ralph Lauren 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.