R Squared Ltd Invests $319,000 in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,110 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 12,884 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,131 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,603,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth about $421,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in Ross Stores by 7.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 58,471 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286 shares during the period. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the second quarter worth approximately $321,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $147.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.89. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year 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 capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

About Ross Stores

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.