Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Purchases New Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Chesapeake Capital Corp IL opened a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter, buying 5,776 shares worth about $1.04 million.
• Institutional interest remains high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 86.86% of Ross Stores stock. Meanwhile, several analysts remain upbeat, giving the stock a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $212.06.
• Ross Stores reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $2.00 EPS on $6.64 billion in revenue, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share from $0.41.

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,776 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,040,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at $29,000. City Holding Co. grew its position in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ROST. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $212.06.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ROST opened at $225.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.73. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $124.49 and a one year high of $231.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.445 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 26.93%.

About Ross Stores

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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