Summit Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 1,764 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,764 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. HTLF Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $1,094,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Ross Stores by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 302,277 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $41,832,000 after acquiring an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth about $503,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 164,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $22,817,000 after purchasing an additional 101,628 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 159,116 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $22,020,000 after buying an additional 26,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total transaction of $2,043,795.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,657 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,941.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 13,860 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.46, for a total value of $2,043,795.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,941.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $130.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.06. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 41.15%. The company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 26.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.21.

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.