Louisbourg Investments Inc. Has $2.49 Million Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,465 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,090 shares during the quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $141.27 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.01. The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

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. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.