Centerstone Investors LLC Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Centerstone Investors LLC has reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 71.2%, now holding only 5,154 shares, making it the firm's 18th largest investment.
• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its position in Ross Stores by 17.0%, now owning over 34 million shares valued at approximately $4.36 billion.
• Ross Stores reported a quarterly earnings of $1.56 EPS, exceeding expectations by $0.02, despite revenue slightly below analysts' forecasts at $5.53 billion.

Centerstone Investors LLC reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 71.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,154 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 12,769 shares during the period. Ross Stores accounts for 1.6% of Centerstone Investors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Centerstone Investors LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 14,998 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 83,610 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $12,648,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,648 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,787,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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 note on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded down $1.86 on Friday, hitting $150.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,438,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,281,008. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $158.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $140.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.78. The stock has a market cap of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.59 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.