Monument Capital Management Makes New Investment in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Monument Capital Management bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,286 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,214,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $175,001,000 after buying an additional 487,882 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 794,127 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $114,513,000 after purchasing an additional 331,413 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 474,332 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $68,399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 472,046 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,800,000 after purchasing an additional 23,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 10,207.7% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 325,208 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,061,000 after purchasing an additional 322,053 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on RL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In related news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total value of $11,515,363.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE RL traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $168.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 153,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,909. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $108.60 and a 1 year high of $192.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.52.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.95%.

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.