UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Takes Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp acquired 6,942 shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.48 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 86.86% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 15 Buy ratings and six Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $244.76; several firms recently raised targets as high as $290.
• Ross Stores exceeded quarterly expectations with $2.02 in earnings per share and $6.01 billion in revenue, up 20.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,942 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,478,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $257.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $244.76.

Ross Stores Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $235.28 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $233.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.77. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $143.39 and a one year high of $257.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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