QV Investors Inc. Cuts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

QV Investors Inc. lessened its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 38.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,820 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 11,870 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $368,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,781 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $219.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.36 and a 12 month high of $222.03.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.445 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Ross Stores Company 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.