M&T Bank Corp Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

M&T Bank Corp lowered its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,284 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 5,601 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 177,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,734,000 after buying an additional 10,175 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,806 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 128,540 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ROST. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $149.15 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $49.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

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.