Moors & Cabot Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stock holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. by 25.1%, owning 7,290 shares valued at $932,000 after selling 2,438 shares in the first quarter.
• Ross Stores reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding analysts' expectations, with a 2.6% revenue increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, yielding 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 25.59%.

Moors & Cabot Inc. trimmed its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,290 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,438 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,120,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,914,000. KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,199 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,724 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $213,400,000 after acquiring an additional 32,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,747 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.13. The company had a trading volume of 279,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,080,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $46.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.31.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.1%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $159.06.

About Ross Stores

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.