Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $168.00 to $163.00. The stock had previously closed at $135.97, but opened at $129.40. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ross Stores shares last traded at $136.99, with a volume of 761,826 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ROST. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.07.

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Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Ross Stores by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after buying an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after buying an additional 135,117 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $649,318,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.49. 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 has a market cap of $44.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

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.