National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 71,291 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,291 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.16% of Ross Stores worth $72,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 458.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,567,164.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at $16,616,788.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ ROST traded up $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,732,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,338,168. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $151.12. 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 company has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.06.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. 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 payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

Ross Stores declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.