Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 58,354 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 34.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,352 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,354 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $33,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,916,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,243,740,000 after purchasing an additional 346,474 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,931,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $682,511,000 after purchasing an additional 161,202 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after purchasing an additional 601,031 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $523,185,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 11.7% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,310,364 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $481,062,000 after purchasing an additional 347,006 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ROST opened at $155.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.35 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.85 and a 200 day moving average of $142.99.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Ross Stores 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.