Nicholas Investment Partners LP Acquires 7,030 Shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 238.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,981 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,030 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $3,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 177.9% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 54,701 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $19,343,000 after buying an additional 35,016 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 6,216.7% in the 4th 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. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 9,133 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 106.8% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 63,180 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $22,552,000 after buying an additional 32,622 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 160.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 88,617 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,787,000 after purchasing an additional 54,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $437.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $480.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.29.

Ralph Lauren Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $403.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $365.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.37. The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.35. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $258.13 and a 12-month high of $405.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.27 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.16%.

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.