Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 94,269 shares and bringing its total holding to 1,185,331 shares worth about $213.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains upbeat, with multiple analysts raising price targets and most ratings coming in as Buy or better; the consensus target price is $233.18.
• Ross Stores posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations with EPS of $2.02 and revenue of $6.01 billion, while also issuing guidance for FY2026 and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,185,331 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 94,269 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.37% of Ross Stores worth $213,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Somerset Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 954 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ROST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $257.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $224.07 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $221.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $237.41.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company's revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.86%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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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