Element Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 44,041 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 44,041 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,674,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 8.1% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 3.6% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,738 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $894,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 87,862 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Prio Wealth Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,400,000. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. 888 restated a “downgrade” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, June 26th. VNET Group restated an “initiates” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $113.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $127.00.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.41. 695,717 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,312,572. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.21 and a 52-week high of $122.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.25 and a 200-day moving average of $108.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The apparel retailer reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 8.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.07, for a total transaction of $2,381,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 305,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,366,954.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.07, for a total value of $2,381,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 305,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,366,954.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total value of $3,153,095.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 67,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,146,520.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 69,199 shares of company stock valued at $8,325,441. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company's Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.