The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 242,371 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $51,589,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of Ross Stores as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 4,847 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in Ross Stores by 138.4% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,192,000 after purchasing an additional 754,816 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,750,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 14,745 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,656,000 after purchasing an additional 7,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 744.8% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 211,676 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,131,000 after buying an additional 186,619 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $236.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.39 and a 52 week high of $257.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $234.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.14. The company has a market cap of $75.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%.The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ross Stores from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $262.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.76.

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.