Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,017,638 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 45,674 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.61% of Ross Stores worth $257,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.9% in the first quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 27,640 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 26.4% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,354 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,343,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,791,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $138.90 and its 200 day moving average is $139.96. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.59%.

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.