Nicholas Investment Partners LP Buys New Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Nicholas Investment Partners LP opened a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter, buying 4,291 shares valued at about $773,000.
• Ross Stores reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $2.02 topping estimates and revenue of $6.01 billion beating forecasts; revenue also rose 20.6% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, while analysts remain generally positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $233.18.

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,291 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,951 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 23.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 150,491 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $19,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $240.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.49 and a 1-year high of $242.81. The business's fifty day moving average price is $224.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 24.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ROST. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.18.

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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