Czech National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,758 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $15,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $521,159,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $276,857,000 after buying an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,523,000 after buying an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $468,203,000 after buying an additional 849,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $214.30 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.07 and a 52 week high of $217.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $200.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ROST shares. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, December 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Company 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.