Ralph Lauren Corporation $RL Stock Position Raised by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 243.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,779 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,969 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,427 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 898 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,406,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth $1,436,000. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth $1,678,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised their target price on Ralph Lauren from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $422.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore set a $420.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.06.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $349.29 on Wednesday. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a twelve month low of $176.61 and a twelve month high of $389.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $21.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $359.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $343.58.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The textile maker reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.42. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 37.97%. The company had revenue of $2.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.9125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.22, for a total transaction of $16,648,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 85,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,304,229.44. This represents a 35.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 38.34% of the company’s stock.

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.