Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,078 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth $84,288,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 794,127 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $114,513,000 after buying an additional 331,413 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,890,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1,222.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 119,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $17,160,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,602,000. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $166.72. The stock had a trading volume of 794,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,472. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.82. Ralph Lauren Co. has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $192.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.55. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.53 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RL. UBS Group boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $132.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.92.

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