Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,637 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $149.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $145.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.81. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $158.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.67.

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.