Providence First Trust Co Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,963 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. City Holding Co. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ROST opened at $227.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $216.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.49 and a 1-year high of $230.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 26.93%.

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.