Cypress Capital Group Boosts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,039 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,056 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 36.6% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.5%

Ross Stores stock opened at $147.71 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The business’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. The trade was a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% 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.