Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 236,262 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 25,970 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $35,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $11,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 137.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded up $2.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.51. The company had a trading volume of 4,388,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,655,083. The company has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.