Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stake Boosted by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12,671.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 377.8% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 372.5% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Ross Stores by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 84,502 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,799,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,866,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.07.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $176.33 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $178.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $158.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.96. The company has a market capitalization of $57.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares in the company, valued at $13,169,865.15. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ross Stores

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.