Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 137,631 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $221,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $921,634,000 after purchasing an additional 203,495 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 130.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,071 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 891.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,009 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 708.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,020 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the first quarter valued at about $63,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.6 %

RL stock opened at $202.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Ralph Lauren Co. has a twelve month low of $120.95 and a twelve month high of $237.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.72. The stock has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.90.

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, floor coverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, dining, decorative accessories, and giftware; and fragrances.