Portfolio Design Labs LLC Invests $2.74 Million in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,857 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,938,711,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,911,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,506,099,000 after purchasing an additional 99,975 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ross Stores by 20.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $979,384,000 after purchasing an additional 79,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $868,360,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Key Ross Stores News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ross Stores this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter sales increased 13.3% year over year to approximately $6.3 billion, while comparable-store sales rose 10% as customer traffic strengthened. Ross Stores Reports Strong Second Quarter Sales and Earnings Results
• Positive Sentiment: Reported diluted EPS reached $2.66, up sharply from $1.56 a year earlier and well above consensus estimates near $1.93-$1.94. Several reports characterized the quarter as a double beat on earnings and revenue. Ross Stores Q2 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Ross raised fiscal 2026 EPS guidance to $8.61-$8.77, substantially above the approximately $7.31 consensus cited in the reports. Third-quarter guidance of $1.75-$1.83 and fourth-quarter guidance of $2.17-$2.26 also exceed consensus expectations. Ross Stores Raises Annual Profit Forecast Again
• Positive Sentiment: The company increased its fiscal-year store-opening plan to 115 locations after opening 47 stores during the quarter, supporting longer-term revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ross declared its regular quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 8. The dividend provides ongoing shareholder returns but was not a major change to the investment outlook. Ross Stores Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: About $253 million of the quarter’s operating income came from IEEPA tariff refunds. Investors may discount some of the earnings upside because tariff-related benefits could be nonrecurring, leaving underlying margins and demand as key areas to monitor.
• Negative Sentiment: ROST remains near its 52-week high and trades at a relatively demanding valuation, making the stock vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointment even after a strong report. Pre-earnings options activity also showed elevated put demand and implied volatility.

Ross Stores Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $228.99 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $143.39 and a one year high of $257.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.86.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Ross Stores from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.76.

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.