Delta Global Management LP Makes New $2.55 Million Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Delta Global Management LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,752 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,553,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,951 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 18,104 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 80,648 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,289,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.29.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

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

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $206.28 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $196.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $216.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $66.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. 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. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

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.