2,000 Shares in Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RL. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 6,216.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 73,337 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $25,933,000 after buying an additional 72,176 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 177.9% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,701 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $19,343,000 after buying an additional 35,016 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 41,688 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,133 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 63,180 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $22,552,000 after purchasing an additional 32,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2,184.8% during the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 22,848 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,079,000 after purchasing an additional 21,848 shares in the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research lowered Ralph Lauren from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.07.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL traded up $0.73 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $397.05. The company had a trading volume of 23,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 655,489. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a 12 month low of $273.04 and a 12 month high of $421.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $376.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.12.

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

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Ralph Lauren’s 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.