Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Position Boosted by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. by 42.0% in Q1, now owning 7,372 shares valued at approximately $942,000.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada, have significantly raised their stakes in Ross Stores, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 86.86%.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Ross Stores, with an average target price of $159.06 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy" based on diverse evaluations from different research firms.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 42.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,372 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,180 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946,101 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Ross Stores by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $504,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368,571 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $176,973,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at about $122,043,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $159.06.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $147.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 9.79%.The company's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its Q2 2025 guidance at 1.400-1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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