Vest Financial LLC Purchases 12,618 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 4.0%, buying 12,618 shares to hold 325,291 shares worth about $58.6 million (roughly 0.10% of the company) at quarter-end.
• Ross Stores beat expectations for the quarter with $2.00 EPS versus $1.90 consensus and $6.64 billion in revenue (up 12.2% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445 ($1.78 annualized).
• Institutional ownership is high at 86.86%, and analysts are broadly positive (16 Buys, 5 Holds) giving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target near $212.

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,291 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 12,618 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Ross Stores worth $58,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,487,720,000 after acquiring an additional 180,182 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $605,704,000 after acquiring an additional 426,370 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $709,518,000 after purchasing an additional 252,284 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $616,470,000 after purchasing an additional 375,470 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $612,671,000 after purchasing an additional 157,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $226.17 on Tuesday. 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 $72.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $213.92 and a 200 day moving average of $189.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 26.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.06.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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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