Kentucky Retirement Systems Makes New Investment in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Kentucky Retirement Systems acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,923 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RL. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $264,225,000 after buying an additional 952,681 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,324,018 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $468,186,000 after buying an additional 275,263 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 895,017 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $316,487,000 after acquiring an additional 255,511 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 881,360 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $311,658,000 after acquiring an additional 245,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 70.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 586,225 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $207,295,000 after acquiring an additional 242,386 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on RL. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Ralph Lauren from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.79.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE RL opened at $380.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $387.35 and its 200 day moving average is $367.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.34. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $273.04 and a twelve month high of $421.60.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 11.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.27 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

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

Ralph Lauren 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.