GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 56.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,048 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 137,631 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 949,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $183,787,000 after purchasing an additional 30,694 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 158.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,336 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $149,478,000 after purchasing an additional 528,778 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $162,714,000 after buying an additional 78,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 520,393 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $100,889,000 after buying an additional 60,610 shares during the period. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $242.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.25. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12 month low of $134.90 and a 12 month high of $245.92.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on RL shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.27.

Ralph Lauren Company Profile

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.