Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Stake Raised by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 438,373 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 30,180 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.13% of Ross Stores worth $66,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $125.95 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.77 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.01.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.