Railway Pension Investments Ltd Boosts Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 114,000 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $24,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 35.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 150,491 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $262.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.76.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $228.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.61. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $143.39 and a one year high of $257.00. The firm has a market cap of $73.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.86.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%.The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Ross Stores Company 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.