Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 227.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 416 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $63,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,263,000 after purchasing an additional 469,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 24.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,007,528 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $291,734,000 after purchasing an additional 390,518 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded down $2.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $151.85. 1,724,821 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,014,588. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $149.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.66. The stock has a market cap of $50.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.29.

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.