West Family Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,592 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,592 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,938,711,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,911,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,506,099,000 after purchasing an additional 99,975 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $979,384,000 after acquiring an additional 79,519 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $868,360,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $234.69 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.39 and a 12-month high of $257.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $234.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Ross Stores from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.76.

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.