Willis Investment Counsel Grows Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 50,802 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $7,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,508,000. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Ross Stores by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,433 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,737 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 5,060 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $150.56 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. 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 issued its quarterly 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. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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 $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Ross Stores 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.