Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stock Holdings Lessened by Sather Financial Group Inc

Key Points

• Sather Financial Group trimmed its Ross Stores stake by 1.4% in Q4, selling 6,079 shares and retaining 414,661 shares (about 0.13% of the company) valued at roughly $74.7 million, making ROST its ninth-largest holding and ~4.0% of Sather’s portfolio.
• Ross topped quarterly estimates with $2.00 EPS vs. $1.90 and revenue of $6.64 billion (up 12.2% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 ($1.78 annualized).
• Analysts have pushed up price targets (examples: Goldman to $244, Wells Fargo to $235) and the stock holds a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $208.29 target, while institutional ownership sits at 86.86% amid large recent purchases by firms like Holocene, Marshall Wace and Bank of America.

Sather Financial Group Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 414,661 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 6,079 shares during the period. Ross Stores comprises approximately 4.0% of Sather Financial Group Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Sather Financial Group Inc owned approximately 0.13% of Ross Stores worth $74,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ross Stores by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $102,281,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 184.6% in the 3rd quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 968,290 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $147,558,000 after purchasing an additional 628,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ROST opened at $224.15 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.49 and a 52-week high of $226.63. The company has a market capitalization of $72.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 26.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ross Stores

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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