Aberdeen Group plc Has $29.32 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 99.7%, acquiring an additional 115,891 shares, bringing their total ownership to about 232,184 shares valued at $29.3 million.
• Analysts generally express a positive outlook on Ross Stores, with five firms rating the stock as hold, twelve as buy, and one as strong buy, while the average target price is set at $159.06.
• Ross Stores recently reported earnings per share of $1.47 for the last quarter, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $1.44 and represented a 2.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 99.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,184 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 115,891 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $29,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROST. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 50.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in Ross Stores by 372.5% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 36.6% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $147.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,534,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,074. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $135.35 and its 200 day moving average is $137.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 9.79%.The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Ross Stores has set its Q2 2025 guidance at 1.400-1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $159.06.

About Ross Stores

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.