Ascent Group LLC Grows Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,785 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 162.6% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $219.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $70.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.36 and a 1 year high of $222.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.