Montag A & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 12,689 Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,689 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 123,638 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $14,353,000 after acquiring an additional 48,432 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at about $354,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,986,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 70.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 36,534 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,241,000 after buying an additional 15,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,000. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $192.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL traded down $6.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $174.63. 369,296 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,440. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.13. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $108.60 and a 52 week high of $192.03.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ralph Lauren news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total value of $11,515,363.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares in the company, valued at $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.