Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $142.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $145.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.43.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 262.1% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Company 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.