California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 101,885,923 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Ross Stores stake, buying 101.9 million additional shares in the second quarter to own 102.4 million shares, or approximately 31.9% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ross Stores, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $263.76; recent targets range as high as $298.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, earning $2.66 per share versus the $1.95 estimate and generating $6.26 billion in revenue, up 13.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 21,618.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,357,224 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 101,885,923 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 31.91% of Ross Stores worth $21,786,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $3,976,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,608 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 13.6% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,589 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 84.3% in the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 22,001 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,683,000 after purchasing an additional 10,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.9% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $260.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.76.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $230.69 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $143.39 and a 12 month high of $257.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $234.95 and a 200-day moving average of $225.14. The company has a market cap of $73.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.85.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 21.55%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc NASDAQ: ROST is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross's business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.

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