Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) to Issue $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.445 per share by the apparel retailer on Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.4%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 26.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $8.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.78 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.9%.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $143.39 and a 52-week high of $257.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.03 and a 200 day moving average of $221.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $234,192,000 after acquiring an additional 754,816 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,750,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 14,745 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 7,353 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ross Stores by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 136,426 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $24,576,000 after acquiring an additional 33,995 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.