Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 4,008 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 24.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,307 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 48.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,248 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after acquiring an additional 254,720 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 103,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $15,588,000 after acquiring an additional 5,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7.8% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 144,310 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $21,720,000 after acquiring an additional 10,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.6 %

ROST stock opened at $150.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.75 and a 200-day moving average of $146.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Company 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.