Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 5,000 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,627 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $9,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspect Partners LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 251.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 204 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 162.6% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 239 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROST. Citigroup increased their target price on Ross Stores from $188.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.94.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $196.54 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $197.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $63.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.80.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

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.