Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its Ross Stores stake by 376.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 10,969 shares valued at about $1.98 million.
• Ross Stores reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.00 versus $1.90 expected and revenue of $6.64 billion, up 12.2% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share, while analysts remain largely bullish with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 376.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,969 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 8,666 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. City Holding Co. increased 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.06.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $225.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.16, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $217.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.73. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $231.16.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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