Adero Partners LLC Buys 113 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,459 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 19.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $145.02 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $151.48 and a 200 day moving average of $147.97. The company has a market capitalization of $47.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Ross Stores Company 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.