Interval Partners LP Takes $18.78 Million Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 100,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,776,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 4.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,908,575 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $921,634,000 after acquiring an additional 203,495 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,214,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $175,001,000 after buying an additional 487,882 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 71.6% in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 474,332 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $68,399,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 15,903.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 448,902 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $84,266,000 after acquiring an additional 446,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on RL shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.42.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE:RL traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.13. 538,113 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 943,198. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $176.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.25. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $108.60 and a 1-year high of $192.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.52.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The textile maker reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Ralph Lauren’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This is a positive change from Ralph Lauren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is presently 33.95%.

Insider Activity at Ralph Lauren

In other news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 44,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,636,208.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

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.