Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 523,250 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $113,352,000. Ross Stores accounts for 1.1% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $868,360,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $276,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,167,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $570,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143,611 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $232.80 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $242.81. The company has a market capitalization of $74.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.Ross Stores’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores 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.