Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,038 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 597 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $51,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 692 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 290.0% in the 1st quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 780 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on RL shares. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $139.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ralph Lauren

In other Ralph Lauren news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 9,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $1,159,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,132,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 39.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $113.86 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $82.23 and a 52 week high of $135.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.42.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The textile maker reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 24.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.36%.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.