Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Buys 307 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 17.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,075 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $630,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,149 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,591 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,476,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,734 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.1%

ROST stock opened at $156.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.68. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $158.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total value of $437,131.88. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.