Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Purchases Shares of 7,610 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,610 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,151,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 434.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of ROST opened at $145.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.95. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 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.