Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 886,641 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $188,722,000. Ross Stores accounts for 2.3% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.76.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.7%

Ross Stores stock opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $234.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.39 and a 52 week high of $257.00.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.86%.

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.