Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 108,860 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 312,974 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,860 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $56,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,411,000. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,790,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Ross Stores by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 227,340 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,645,000 after buying an additional 104,270 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ross Stores by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 130,610 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,904,000 after buying an additional 7,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,542,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.3%

ROST stock opened at $226.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.49 and a 1-year high of $230.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.84.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.