iA Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 9,565 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,442 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan lifted its position in Ross Stores by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 24,656 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,442,000 after buying an additional 2,563 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 158,065 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,474,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its position in Ross Stores by 48.2% in the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 23,838 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,294,000 after buying an additional 7,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Ross Stores by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,072 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $212.75 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $231.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.29.

Ross Stores Company 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.