Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Sanford C. Bernstein

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $165.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $178.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $154.95 on Tuesday. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.55.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.