Jacobi Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 37.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,619 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $8,516,000. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $1,476,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $630,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 50.9% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,149 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Loop Capital cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.67.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.1%

Ross Stores stock opened at $147.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $158.69. The company has a market capitalization of $48.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.21.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.71%.

About Ross Stores

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.