Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases New Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,467 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 4.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $921,634,000 after acquiring an additional 203,495 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 3.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,255,482 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $235,662,000 after acquiring an additional 41,482 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 12,493.8% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,002,344 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $175,470,000 after purchasing an additional 994,385 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 158.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,336 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $149,478,000 after purchasing an additional 528,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 42.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 638,502 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $111,760,000 after purchasing an additional 189,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on RL. StockNews.com upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Cfra set a $171.00 target price on Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $202.15 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $120.95 and a 1 year high of $237.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $198.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.72.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

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.