TD Asset Management Inc Cuts Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,344 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 52,929 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.23% of Ross Stores worth $95,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores by 17.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $518,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,815 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,997,575 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $510,850,000 after acquiring an additional 192,148 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,912,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $372,134,000 after purchasing an additional 15,085 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,017,638 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $257,834,000 after purchasing an additional 45,674 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.33.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $155.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $149.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.71%.

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.