Savant Capital LLC Grows Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,953 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 429 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in 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 valued at $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4,787.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,783,000 after acquiring an additional 616,860 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,732,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 478.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 400,204 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $60,235,000 after purchasing an additional 331,007 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $139.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $150.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.01.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.06.

About Ross Stores

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.