Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,881,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.12.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0 %

ROST stock opened at $138.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $146.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.