Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Takes $209,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,380 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,783,000 after acquiring an additional 616,860 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,732,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 478.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 400,204 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after purchasing an additional 331,007 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $141.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.01.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

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.