Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,346 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,005 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,132 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,578 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 15,139 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,497,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 100,164 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $23,136,000 after purchasing an additional 35,165 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group set a $384.00 target price on Ralph Lauren and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.88.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $270.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $155.96 and a 12 month high of $289.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.56. The stock has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.51.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

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 issued a $0.9125 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the textile maker to repurchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.