Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 207,887 Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 207,887 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $73,511,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,050,543 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $370,852,000 after purchasing an additional 54,686 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 9.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,048,755 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $328,848,000 after buying an additional 93,753 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,937.8% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 963,340 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $264,225,000 after buying an additional 952,681 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 11.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 941,832 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $295,321,000 after buying an additional 98,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 756,203 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $207,417,000 after buying an additional 36,328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL opened at $366.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a one year low of $258.13 and a one year high of $393.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $360.03 and a 200 day moving average of $358.35.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The textile maker reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.28. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 11.60%.The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 18.29 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $437.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut Ralph Lauren from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.29.

About Ralph Lauren

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.