AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,916 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,998,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,954 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,974,551 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,782,873,000 after buying an additional 61,168 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,268,700 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,310,081,000 after acquiring an additional 51,765 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,673,823 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,102,077,000 after acquiring an additional 133,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $188.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.01. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $194.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average of $162.00.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Zacks Research raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Guggenheim upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.41.

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.