USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 12,622 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 16.6%, owning 63,448 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Ross Stores, with Morgan Stanley setting it at $130.00 and Barclays increasing it to $164.00, reflecting varying overall confidence in the stock.
• Ross Stores announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, scheduled for payment on September 30th to stockholders of record as of September 9th, providing a 1.1% yield.

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,448 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 12,622 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 17.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 59.3% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $518,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,815 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,997,575 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $510,850,000 after purchasing an additional 192,148 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $504,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,571 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,912,392 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $372,134,000 after purchasing an additional 15,085 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $149.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,850,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,263,700. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $141.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.03. The firm has a market cap of $48.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company's Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.