Louisbourg Investments Inc. Buys 5,090 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 44.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,465 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,090 shares during the quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after acquiring an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after purchasing an additional 34,475 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after purchasing an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $141.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.01. The company has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.