Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 76,450 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 16.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 540,512 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,450 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.16% of Ross Stores worth $78,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 16.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,298 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 21.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 20,699 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,665 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 13.5% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 14,234 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 167.7% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $5,286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.71.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock opened at $154.31 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.35 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $147.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.14. The firm has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.79%.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.