Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stake Lowered by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 79.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,285 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 67,888 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. City Holding Co. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $254.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $231.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.39 and a 52-week high of $257.00.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Ross Stores from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.12.

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.