First Hawaiian Bank Reduces Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First Hawaiian Bank lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,643 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.4% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,741 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 37.3% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 5,223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 106.6% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST traded up $3.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $154.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,437,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,116,915. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.56.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

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.