Night Squared LP Boosts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Night Squared LP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 163.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,442 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,312 shares during the period. Night Squared LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Ross Stores by 0.3% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 20,114 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 5,421 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $206.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.22. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $216.80. The company has a market cap of $66.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 24.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total value of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.