Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 13,972 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 452,828 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 13,972 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Ross Stores worth $69,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 14.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,998,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $521,159,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $468,203,000 after purchasing an additional 849,391 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $206.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $66.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $196.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.40. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $216.80.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total value of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,234,874.95. This trade represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.