Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 256 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 93,508 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $14,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $151.74 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.67. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

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.