Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Ross Stores saw a 34.0% increase in short interest in March to 8,363,879 shares (about 2.7% of shares), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 3.1 days based on average volume.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — the COO sold 15,813 shares and the CMO 5,506 on March 25, with insiders offloading 25,756 shares over the last three months and owning just 2.20% of the stock.
• Analysts remain largely constructive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a $208.29 target; Ross beat Q earnings estimates, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.445, and the stock trades near $224.13.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 8,363,879 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the March 15th total of 6,239,592 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,706,414 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $224.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,091,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,574,060. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $207.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.02. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $226.63.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

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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