Hilltop Holdings Inc. Has $551,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 91.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 19.1% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its position in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $156.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.88. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. 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 previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.