Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 77,165 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 77,165 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $16,114,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.8% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 954 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 1,421 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6%

ROST stock opened at $228.55 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $143.39 and a one year high of $257.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $233.95 and a 200-day moving average of $223.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 21.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $260.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Ross Stores from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.76.

Ross Stores 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.