Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 2,027 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,062 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,027 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RL. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 245 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL opened at $165.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.55. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $192.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 25.88% and a net margin of 8.90%. Ralph Lauren’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 34.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RL shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.92.

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, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances.