HS Management Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

HS Management Partners LLC lowered its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,919 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 43,960 shares during the period. Ralph Lauren makes up approximately 4.2% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $60,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth about $1,374,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,848,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $716,000. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,613 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $5,454,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,777,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $310.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.15.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

RL stock opened at $249.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $155.96 and a 12-month high of $289.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.57.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 30.11%.

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.