Ross Stores’ (ROST) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $140.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $164.00.

ROST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $148.61 on Tuesday. 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 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.90.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,915,000 after buying an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after purchasing an additional 316,652 shares during the period. Marshfield Associates increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 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.