Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 3,118,591 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Wellington Management increased its Ross Stores stake by 89.2%, purchasing 3.12 million additional shares to hold 6.62 million shares worth approximately $1.41 billion, or 2.06% of the company.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.66 beating estimates by $0.71 and revenue of $6.26 billion rising 13.3% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $263.76, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, yielding 0.8% annually.

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,615,682 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,118,591 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 2.06% of Ross Stores worth $1,408,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $5,938,711,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,911,953 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,506,099,000 after acquiring an additional 99,975 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $1,937,995,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $979,384,000 after purchasing an additional 79,519 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6%

Ross Stores stock opened at $228.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $233.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.39 and a fifty-two week high of $257.00.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $294.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.76.

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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