Brooklyn Investment Group Buys New Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,332 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after acquiring an additional 316,652 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,440,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $517,795,000 after purchasing an additional 129,908 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,477,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $359,991,000 after buying an additional 331,996 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after buying an additional 975,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ROST opened at $154.38 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $51.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Company 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.