Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Purchases 617 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,519 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $149.15 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

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.