Westport Asset Management Inc. Makes New $3.62 Million Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Westport Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 17,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,618,000. Ross Stores accounts for approximately 1.5% of Westport Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Sixteen 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.76.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $75.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.46. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $143.39 and a 1 year high of $257.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 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.