NewEdge Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• NewEdge Wealth LLC nearly doubled its stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter, buying 7,353 additional shares and bringing its total position to 14,745 shares worth about $2.66 million.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, posting earnings of $2.00 per share versus expectations of $1.90 and revenue of $6.64 billion, both ahead of estimates. Revenue also rose 12.2% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share from $0.41, while analysts remain generally constructive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price around $213.29.

NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 99.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,745 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 7,353 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $29,000. City Holding Co. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in 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 in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 89.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $217.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $217.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.06. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $231.16. The company has a market capitalization of $70.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 2.92 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.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share 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 net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $213.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ross Stores 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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