Stevens Capital Management LP Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,694 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,013,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $17,221,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 31,444 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 9,813 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 438,373 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $66,313,000 after purchasing an additional 30,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 8,553 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $123.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $139.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.63.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROST. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.40.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.