Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $56.38 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Ross Stores by 53.3% to 312,974 shares, now worth about $56.38 million (roughly 0.10% of the company) after buying 108,860 shares in Q4.
• Insiders sold stock — including COO Michael Hartshorn and CMO Karen Sykes — with 25,756 shares sold last quarter worth $5.52 million, trimming insider ownership to 2.10%.
• Operational and market outlook: Ross beat quarterly expectations with $2.00 EPS vs $1.90 and $6.64B revenue (up 12.2%), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445, and analysts hold a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average target of $208.29.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 53.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 312,974 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 108,860 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.10% of Ross Stores worth $56,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 35.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 150,491 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $19,200,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $226.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $230.44. The stock has a market cap of $72.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $212.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.84.

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 firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROST. Guggenheim raised their target price on Ross Stores from $199.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.29.

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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