Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 77,900 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 96.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,195 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 77,900 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 10.6% during the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 8,892 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $3,059,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.5% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,132 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,874,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 595.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 14,684 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $5,051,000 after buying an additional 12,572 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 131,593 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $45,267,000 after acquiring an additional 17,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graetz Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Graetz Wealth LLC now owns 688 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $430.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.07.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL stock opened at $374.57 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $378.41 and a 200 day moving average of $366.00. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 52 week low of $273.04 and a 52 week high of $421.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 26th. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 26.47%.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a global designer, marketer and distributor of premium lifestyle products under the Ralph Lauren name and a portfolio of related brands. The company, founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, has grown from a single line of men’s neckties into a global lifestyle business that spans apparel, accessories and home goods.

Ralph Lauren’s product assortment includes menswear, womenswear and childrenswear along with footwear, leather goods, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings.