Summitry LLC Increases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Summitry LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 428,912 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,718 shares during the period. Ross Stores comprises 2.5% of Summitry LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Summitry LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $54,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 4,946,101 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 184.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $138,081,000 after purchasing an additional 700,546 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 324,693 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $160.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $52.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $165.07.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.71%.

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.