Xponance Inc. Purchases 910 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,899 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after acquiring an additional 151,255 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,039 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 179,632 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,036,000 after acquiring an additional 18,801 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ROST opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.77 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

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.