Hantz Financial Services Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,571,000. WBI Investments LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 160.4% in the 2nd quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 3,586 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 2,209 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 82.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 14,776 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 6,668 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,527 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $150.61 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.35 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.71 and a 200 day moving average of $142.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.71.

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.