Natural Investments LLC Purchases New Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,485 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $126.52 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.44 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $144.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Ross Stores Profile

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.