Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 41,650 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 618 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth about $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 184.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $138,081,000 after purchasing an additional 700,546 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,392,475 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $177,944,000 after buying an additional 246,648 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $155.26 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $158.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $50.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.27.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ROST. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the transaction, the insider owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.