Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,252 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,444,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 15.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,952 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the second quarter worth about $715,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth approximately $489,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 9.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 8,160 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 672 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RL. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.55.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:RL opened at $269.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Ralph Lauren Co. has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $289.33. The company has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $239.00 and a 200-day moving average of $205.85.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 29.44% and a net margin of 10.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is 31.46%.

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.