STF Management LP Cuts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

STF Management LP reduced its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 60.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,934 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,014 shares during the quarter. STF Management LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. City Holding Co. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 89.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.29.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.2%

ROST opened at $212.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $231.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.