Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.10-$6.17 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.13. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $145.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.53.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. 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 business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.1 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.