Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 33,995 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 23.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 178,777 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 33,995 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Ross Stores worth $27,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $1,265,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $7,949,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,411,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Ross Stores by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,645,000 after buying an additional 104,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amica Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,790,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $209.84 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $195.84 and its 200-day moving average is $173.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $216.80.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total value of $546,753.96. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROST. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Ross Stores from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.