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 equities analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders 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.