BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Increases Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 152.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,781 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,783 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.8% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 139,759 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,860,000 after purchasing an additional 28,665 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter worth $2,202,000. Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 235,245 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $30,062,000 after buying an additional 7,479 shares in the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 8,251 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 41,996 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,367,000 after acquiring an additional 4,142 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $146.35 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.59%.

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.