Postrock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 17,767 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,688,000. Ross Stores makes up 1.3% of Postrock Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $295,857,000 after buying an additional 151,255 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.5% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,479 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,631,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $392,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "negative" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.40.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Ross Stores
Ross Stores Trading Down 1.5 %
ROST traded down $1.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $123.71. 3,359,455 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,386,059. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.77 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $142.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ross Stores Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.
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.
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