Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 616,860 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4,787.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 616,860 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.19% of Ross Stores worth $94,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after purchasing an additional 18,685 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,041 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 135.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 24,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,557,000 after acquiring an additional 13,931 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 37,844.4% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,830 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 6,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the first quarter worth about $16,130,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.3 %

ROST opened at $154.89 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $145.30 and a 200 day moving average of $145.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company 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.