Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Cut to $165.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $165.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on ROST. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $140.69 on Thursday. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $119.73 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $146.18 and its 200-day moving average is $144.32. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade 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 quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the second quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.