Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $557,000 Stock Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,965 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 216 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 80,043 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $11,542,000 after buying an additional 33,489 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 80.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,800 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ralph Lauren by 45,214.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,172 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ralph Lauren

In other Ralph Lauren news, COO Jane Nielsen sold 67,243 shares of Ralph Lauren stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.25, for a total transaction of $11,515,363.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 44,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,636,208.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ralph Lauren from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.42.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

NYSE RL traded up $4.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $172.50. 224,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 943,308. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.79. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $108.60 and a 1 year high of $192.03. 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 company has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. Ralph Lauren had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Increases Dividend

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

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.