AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Ross Stores, acquiring 13,726 shares valued at approximately $1.92 million during the first quarter.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake by 17% to over 34 million shares, while GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings by an extraordinary 16,435.4%.
• Ross Stores reported $1.56 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, while a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share has been declared to be paid on September 30th.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,726 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,923,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 17.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 59.3% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $518,200,000 after buying an additional 1,509,815 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,997,575 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $510,850,000 after buying an additional 192,148 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Ross Stores by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,912,392 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $372,134,000 after buying an additional 15,085 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $147.05. 1,946,239 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,082,679. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $158.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.26. 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 $47.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.67.

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.