Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires 4,523 Shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 360.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,778 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 267.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,804 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 4,224 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 18.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 385,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $67,398,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Ralph Lauren by 193.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,021 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,322,000 after purchasing an additional 15,188 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 210.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after buying an additional 4,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in Ralph Lauren by 166.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 20,127 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $3,779,000 after buying an additional 12,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Ralph Lauren Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $222.67 on Thursday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $125.25 and a 1 year high of $237.16. The company has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The textile maker reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 29.44%. Ralph Lauren’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ralph Lauren from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $208.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ralph Lauren has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.90.

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.