Jensen Investment Management Inc. Acquires 2,120 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter valued at approximately $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 184.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $138,081,000 after buying an additional 700,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 374.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 411,404 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $52,487,000 after acquiring an additional 324,693 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.8%

Ross Stores stock opened at $160.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $165.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.53.

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