Krane Funds Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 936 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burney Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter worth $5,711,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Ralph Lauren during the fourth quarter valued at $3,014,000. Amundi increased its position in Ralph Lauren by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 195,208 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $47,444,000 after buying an additional 14,889 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren during the 4th quarter valued at $2,264,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,913 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RL opened at $196.53 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $247.58 and its 200 day moving average is $227.75. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52 week low of $155.96 and a 52 week high of $289.33. The stock has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 30.88%. Research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on RL shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ralph Lauren from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $286.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ralph Lauren currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.62.

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.