Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) saw a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,592,312 shares, a drop of 21.2% from the March 31st total of 8,363,879 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,220,768 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,911,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,506,099,000 after purchasing an additional 99,975 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,487,720,000 after buying an additional 180,182 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $979,384,000 after buying an additional 79,519 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $868,360,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $605,704,000 after acquiring an additional 426,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $228.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $215.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.74. The company has a market capitalization of $73.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $230.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.