Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives $161.40 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $161.40.

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $125.95 on Monday. Ross Stores has a one year low of $122.77 and a one year high of $163.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.13 and its 200 day moving average is $146.01. The stock has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after acquiring an additional 151,255 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $392,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,567 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 666,450 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $100,307,000 after buying an additional 54,037 shares in 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.