Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stake Cut by Stephens Investment Management Group LLC

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,535 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,530 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $33,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 5,600 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,755 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $14,245,000 after buying an additional 12,044 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 23.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,597 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 48.3% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,219 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,662,000 after acquiring an additional 16,039 shares during the period. Finally, Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth about $287,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $213.43 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $225.11 and its 200-day moving average is $209.10. The stock has a market cap of $68.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.32 and a twelve month high of $242.81.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

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.