Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $173.33 Million in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,145,828 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $173,329,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ROST opened at $135.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.49.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.07.

About Ross Stores

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.