Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,849 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $23,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $262.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $260.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.76.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $228.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $73.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $233.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.66. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.39 and a fifty-two week high of $257.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.55%.

Ross Stores Company 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.