Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 110.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,600 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 14,498 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Somerville Kurt F acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter worth about $224,000. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.7% during the first quarter. AllGen Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,218 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,945,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.7% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 118,044 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $15,085,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the first quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 193.0% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 14,042 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,794,000 after buying an additional 9,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.94.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $138.33. 1,644,056 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,566,151. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.00. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The company's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

Ross Stores 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.