Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) released its earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07, RTT News reports. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.62. The firm has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a P/E 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.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s 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 trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.