Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 1,698 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 47.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,274 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 0.4 %

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $247.10 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.71 and a 200-day moving average of $204.36. The company has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a one year low of $144.85 and a one year high of $260.77.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 31.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. 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 note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.73.

Ralph Lauren 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.