16,337 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Bought by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,337 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $86,732,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 478.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 400,204 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $60,235,000 after purchasing an additional 331,007 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $142.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 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 50 day moving average of $151.04 and a 200 day moving average of $148.00. 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 company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.