Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Ross Stores by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 241,317 shares valued at about $43.5 million.
• Wall Street remains generally upbeat on the retailer, with 16 Buy ratings and five Hold ratings; the consensus view is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $213.29.
• Ross Stores recently posted better-than-expected earnings of $2.00 per share and revenue of $6.64 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,317 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,977 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $43,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1.0% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $213.29.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $212.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.49 and a fifty-two week high of $231.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. Ross Stores's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. 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. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores 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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