Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Acquired by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 16.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,985 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,618 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. City Holding Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Barclays increased their target price on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Ross Stores from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.9%

ROST opened at $213.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $68.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $226.50 and its 200-day moving average is $207.99. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $126.32 and a one year high of $242.81.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

About Ross Stores

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.