First Financial Bank Trust Division Decreases Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,463 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,309 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $152.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,946,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,338,294. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.45. 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 $50.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. 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.