Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.57-$1.64 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.67. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.62.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for 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 42.42%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROST. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.