Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,120,152 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,431 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.65% of Ross Stores worth $323,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,645,000 after buying an additional 104,270 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 33.7% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,092 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 17.9% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,892 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in Ross Stores by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 545,240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $83,089,000 after purchasing an additional 20,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.2%

ROST stock opened at $188.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.23. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $194.92.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.75% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $169.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.41.

About Ross Stores

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.