Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Acquired by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 888 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 93.0% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 14,593 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 7,033 shares during the period. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $1,094,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 302,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $41,832,000 after acquiring an additional 16,167 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $503,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 782,739 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $108,323,000 after purchasing an additional 21,984 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 7.8 %

Shares of ROST opened at $142.13 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.66 and a fifty-two week high of $151.12. The company has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $4.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total transaction of $616,405.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total transaction of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,941.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.58.

Ross Stores Company 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 to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.