Swiss National Bank Sells 52,700 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 942,800 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 52,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $143,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 162.6% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 152.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 257 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group raised Ross Stores from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $212.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $216.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.51%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.