LGT Capital Partners LTD. Buys 443,932 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 95.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 909,527 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 443,932 shares during the period. Ross Stores comprises approximately 3.8% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $125,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co of the South bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $308,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 275,721 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,157,000 after acquiring an additional 29,053 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 89,439 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $12,377,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 10,003 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.3 %

ROST opened at $146.76 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $144.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.76. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 26.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,257.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.21.

Ross Stores Company 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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.