Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 1,661 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 134.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,897 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Ralph Lauren by 1,775.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 1st quarter worth approximately $63,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE RL traded up $3.71 on Wednesday, hitting $170.45. The company had a trading volume of 101,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,199. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $171.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $108.60 and a 12-month high of $192.03.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The textile maker reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.25. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 28.79%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This is a boost from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 33.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ralph Lauren news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of Ralph Lauren stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total transaction of $11,515,363.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.80.

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