Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Short Interest Update

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,010,000 shares, a drop of 11.5% from the February 13th total of 4,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $104.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $69.24 and a 12-month high of $122.44.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The apparel retailer reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.08. Ross Stores had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 36.40%. The company had revenue of $5.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 20,529 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.37, for a total value of $2,306,843.73. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 127,659 shares in the company, valued at $14,345,041.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 49,657,768 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,487,464,000 after buying an additional 994,578 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,845,099 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,346,507,000 after buying an additional 227,166 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,702,262 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $962,311,000 after buying an additional 1,619,174 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,235,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $838,367,000 after purchasing an additional 120,161 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,318,339 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $617,300,000 after purchasing an additional 53,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Ross Stores from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $95.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, November 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $116.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $123.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.94.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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Ross Stores, Inc engages in the operation of off-price retail apparel and home accessories stores. Its products include branded and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions through the Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brands. The company was founded by Stuart G. Moldaw in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, CA.