The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its Ross Stores stake by 8.8% in the first quarter, selling 24,390 shares and retaining 253,488 shares worth approximately $54.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.86% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Ross Stores, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.18; several firms recently raised their targets to between $257 and $290.
• Ross Stores reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $6.01 billion, beating estimates and growing revenue 20.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, representing a 0.7% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,488 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 24,390 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.08% of Ross Stores worth $54,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. City Holding Co. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,080.0% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $251.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $80.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $228.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.33. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.37 and a 52-week high of $255.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 24.86%.

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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