Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $161.40.

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $11,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $0.99 during trading on Monday, hitting $124.96. 1,637,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,395,236. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $122.77 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $141.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS 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 dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

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.