Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,971,964 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Ross Stores worth $298,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $138.76 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.53 and a 200 day moving average of $147.95.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.15%.

About Ross Stores

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.