United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,928 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,390,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $43,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Ross Stores from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.76.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.6%

ROST stock opened at $228.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $143.39 and a 12 month high of $257.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $233.95 and its 200 day moving average is $223.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 21.55%.

Ross Stores Profile

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.