Candriam S.C.A. Purchases New Shares in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 29,672 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,854,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,139,975 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $221,007,000 after purchasing an additional 137,631 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 949,512 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $183,787,000 after purchasing an additional 30,694 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 839,296 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $162,714,000 after purchasing an additional 78,008 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 520,393 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $100,889,000 after acquiring an additional 60,610 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 492,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $95,537,000 after acquiring an additional 13,640 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock opened at $232.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $255.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.91.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.15.

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.