NWK Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

NWK Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,522 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,220,000. Ross Stores makes up about 1.6% of NWK Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $44,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ROST. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.76.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.46. The stock has a market cap of $75.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.39 and a 1-year high of $257.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

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.