Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives $171.69 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $171.69.

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 917.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 48.8% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $7,454,000 after acquiring an additional 16,248 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 251.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 260,126 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $39,152,000 after purchasing an additional 186,161 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 24.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,967,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $151.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,692,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,338,294. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.84 and a 200-day moving average of $147.45.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

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.