Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 25,177 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,173 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,177 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $21,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,998,924,000 after buying an additional 5,060,954 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $521,159,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $468,203,000 after acquiring an additional 849,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,281,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. BTIG Research began coverage on Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.41.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $191.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $192.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.34 and a 200-day moving average of $155.52.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.75% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.