Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Acquires 814 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 13.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,722 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 39.4% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 14.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 783 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 24.1% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 3.0% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 6,286 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded down $0.74 on Wednesday, hitting $132.35. 655,976 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,966,147. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $44.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $151.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.47 and its 200 day moving average is $135.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.21.

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.