Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $152.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $179.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ROST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.63.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.4 %

ROST opened at $140.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a one year low of $119.73 and a one year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.