Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Invests $391,000 in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,585 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ROST shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $123.30 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.81. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.01 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

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.