Eisler Capital US LLC Invests $1.75 Million in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL)

Eisler Capital US LLC acquired a new position in Ralph Lauren Co. (NYSE:RL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RL. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 6,438 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,057 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 2,586 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,280 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Ralph Lauren by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 17,726 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 67.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ralph Lauren Stock Performance

Shares of RL opened at $115.87 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.42. Ralph Lauren Co. has a 52-week low of $82.23 and a 52-week high of $135.76.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The textile maker reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.19. Ralph Lauren had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 24.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ralph Lauren Co. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ralph Lauren Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Ralph Lauren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.36%.

Insider Transactions at Ralph Lauren

In other news, CEO Patrice Louvet sold 9,272 shares of Ralph Lauren stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $1,159,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,060 shares in the company, valued at $24,132,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 39.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RL. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ralph Lauren from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ralph Lauren from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $139.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Ralph Lauren from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Ralph Lauren in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.00.

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.