Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Acquires New Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,134,898 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $204,750,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,847 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,411,000. Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $1,542,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,790,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 84.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0%

Ross Stores stock opened at $231.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.49 and a 1-year high of $237.41.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.86%.

Ross Stores 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.