New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,773 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth $12,619,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,584 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,079,578 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $249,361,000 after acquiring an additional 82,819 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,757 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,854,000 after acquiring an additional 8,488 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RL. Raymond James lowered shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.62.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

RL stock opened at $220.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.50. Ralph Lauren Co. has a one year low of $155.96 and a one year high of $289.33.

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

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 30.11%.

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.