Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) by 54.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 100,164 shares of the textile maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,165 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ralph Lauren were worth $23,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 86.6% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 222 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Ralph Lauren by 8,933.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $258.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $257.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ralph Lauren in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James cut shares of Ralph Lauren from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.15.

Ralph Lauren Price Performance

Shares of Ralph Lauren stock opened at $277.92 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 1-year low of $155.96 and a 1-year high of $289.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.49.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The textile maker reported $4.82 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Ralph Lauren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Ralph Lauren’s payout ratio is 30.11%.

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.