Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Acquires 494 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,085 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946,101 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at about $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 184.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $138,081,000 after purchasing an additional 700,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 21.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,392,475 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $177,944,000 after purchasing an additional 246,648 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.67.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $147.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.57 and its 200 day moving average is $140.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $158.69.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

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.