Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Given New $180.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ROST. Barclays increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Five 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 data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $153.29 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s 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 trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $68,106,000 after acquiring an additional 270,844 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after buying an additional 18,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.