Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives $171.69 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.69.

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $153.53 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.37 and a 200-day moving average of $146.70. The firm has a market cap of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 19.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.