Marshfield Associates Has $612.67 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Marshfield Associates grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 157,385 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores accounts for approximately 10.6% of Marshfield Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Marshfield Associates’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $612,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 337,903 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $51,492,000 after acquiring an additional 10,474 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Ross Stores by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 45,377 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 7,956 shares during the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,026,000. L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, LRT Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $804,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $207.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $216.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 103,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.