Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,822 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after purchasing an additional 11,060 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Ross Stores by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 251.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 260,126 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $39,152,000 after buying an additional 186,161 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.3 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $147.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.89. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.06.

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.