CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Increases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 417,707 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,724 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $63,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,983 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.7 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $139.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.94. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.87.

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.