Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stake in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Amalgamated Bank cut its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,717 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Ralph Lauren by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 stake in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 351 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ralph Lauren from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded Ralph Lauren from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Ralph Lauren from $332.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Ralph Lauren to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.15.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Ralph Lauren stock opened at $271.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $253.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.49. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1 year low of $155.96 and a 1 year high of $289.33.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is currently 30.11%.

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.