Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,707 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,182 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on RL. StockNews.com raised Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.55.

Ralph Lauren Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $272.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $240.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.91.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 30.88% and a net margin of 10.14%. Equities research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.11%.

About Ralph Lauren

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.