LGT Capital Partners LTD. Lowers Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Key Points

• LGT Capital Partners LTD. reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 6.4%, now holding roughly 568,604 shares, which represents about 3.2% of its total portfolio.
• Ross Stores reported earnings of $1.47 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.6% to $4.98 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with a 1.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 25.59%.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 568,604 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 38,581 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up approximately 3.2% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned approximately 0.17% of Ross Stores worth $72,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,952,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $504,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,571 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 411.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,458,963 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $220,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173,607 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $176,973,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6%

Ross Stores stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.18. 468,203 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,081,581. The company has a market cap of $46.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $134.25 and a 200-day moving average of $137.31.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $159.06.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.