Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Takes $94.83 Million Position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 489,147 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $94,831,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 492,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $95,537,000 after acquiring an additional 13,640 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in Ralph Lauren by 145.8% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 59,927 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $11,618,000 after purchasing an additional 35,550 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren in the third quarter worth $1,819,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ralph Lauren by 210.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Ralph Lauren by 70.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,436 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $200.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ralph Lauren from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on Ralph Lauren from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cfra set a $171.00 price objective on Ralph Lauren in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.90.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RL opened at $227.47 on Friday. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 12-month low of $134.90 and a 12-month high of $237.16. The company has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.825 dividend. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.46%.

Ralph Lauren Company 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.