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

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.00.

Several analysts have commented on ROST shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $140.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $119.73 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.18 and a 200-day moving average of $144.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during 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. Marshfield Associates raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares in the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the third quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 128,540 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 352,930 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $53,119,000 after acquiring an additional 69,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,582 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% 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.