Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 119.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,184 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,126 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $12,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. City Holding Co. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4%

Ross Stores stock opened at $251.96 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $228.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.33. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.37 and a 52 week high of $255.30. The stock has a market cap of $80.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

About Ross Stores

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.