SYM FINANCIAL Corp Boosts Position in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) by 28.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,279 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 93.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 122 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 178.0% during the 1st quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 22,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd now owns 226 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 74.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $294.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.78. Ralph Lauren Corporation has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $299.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The textile maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 31.76% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Corporation will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th were given a $0.9125 dividend. This is an increase from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.44%.

Ralph Lauren declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the textile maker to purchase up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $262.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $197.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $318.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.13.

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