Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 254,720 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.82% of Ross Stores worth $397,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 133,459 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $18,470,000 after acquiring an additional 14,671 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 26,209.1% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 8,245 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 11,730 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts have commented on ROST shares. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.71.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Ross Stores
Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8 %
NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $151.56. 1,727,338 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,211,474. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.19 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $147.77 and its 200-day moving average is $143.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ross Stores Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.
About Ross Stores
(
Free Report)
Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company's Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.
Recommended Stories
Before you consider Ross Stores, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Ross Stores wasn't on the list.
While Ross Stores currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.
Get This Free Report
