Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Takes $1.44 Million Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,252 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,444,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RL. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 271 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RL. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ralph Lauren from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.55.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of RL opened at $269.27 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.85.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.36. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given 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 1.23%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.46%.

Ralph Lauren 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.