EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 196 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 753 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $123.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.77 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.15.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

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.