In This Article:
Key Insights
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Institutions' substantial holdings in Ross Stores implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price
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The top 18 shareholders own 51% of the company
To get a sense of who is truly in control of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 85% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Last week’s 3.8% gain means that institutional investors were on the positive end of the spectrum even as the company has shown strong longer-term trends. The one-year return on investment is currently 45% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Ross Stores.
Check out our latest analysis for Ross Stores
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Ross Stores?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Ross Stores already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Ross Stores' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Ross Stores is not owned by hedge funds. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 8.2% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are BlackRock, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., with an equal amount of shares to their name at 7.8%.
Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 18 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.