Tidal Investments LLC Purchases 8,673 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 14.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 69,580 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,673 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $14,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,192,000 after purchasing an additional 754,816 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $204,750,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 744.8% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 211,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,131,000 after purchasing an additional 186,619 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Ross Stores by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 136,426 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $24,576,000 after purchasing an additional 33,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $1,404,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ROST shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $294.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.76.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock opened at $225.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.69. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.39 and a 1-year high of $257.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $72.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.85.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%.The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 21.55%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an off-price retailer that operates Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores. The company sells a broad selection of apparel, accessories, footwear and home fashion merchandise for women, men and children, generally at prices below those of traditional department and specialty stores.

Ross Stores follows an opportunistic buying model, purchasing name-brand, designer and other merchandise from manufacturers and retailers at discounted prices. Its product assortment changes frequently and can include clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, beauty products, furniture, bedding, home décor and other household goods.

Founded in 1950, the company is headquartered in Dublin, California, and serves customers primarily through its store network across the United States and Guam.