Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,485 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 434.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROST. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $139.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $46.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.01.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.