HTLF Bank Buys New Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,902 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 302,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $41,832,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $503,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,291,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.7% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 673,713 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $76,096,000 after purchasing an additional 30,056 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth approximately $8,322,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ROST traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.05. The stock had a trading volume of 563,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,975. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $144.19 and its 200 day moving average is $134.41.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

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.