Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CEO Barbara Rentler Sells 48,885 Shares

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $150.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.49. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.35 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $50.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,185,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 515.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $243,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,585 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,585,000 after buying an additional 975,190 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $102,083,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after acquiring an additional 601,031 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.71.

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.