Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc Decreases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,138 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 9,518 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up about 1.4% of Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 917.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $397,747,000 after purchasing an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 48.8% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,454,000 after buying an additional 16,248 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $156.24 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

About Ross Stores

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.