Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Raises Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,941 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American International Group Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 124,424 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its position in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its position in Ross Stores by 232.6% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 32,182 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,454,000 after acquiring an additional 22,506 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Ross Stores by 1,194.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 411,164 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $56,899,000 after acquiring an additional 379,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth about $1,483,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $152.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.35 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $146.66 and a 200 day moving average of $142.99.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores 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.