Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $170.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $141.30 on Tuesday. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.