Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 111,547 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,474 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $16,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 7,951 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,746 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,907 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,682 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $192.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $62.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $185.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.21. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $194.92.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore increased their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.94.

About Ross Stores

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.