Wells Fargo & Company Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $165.00 price target on the apparel retailer's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.74% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ROST. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI increased 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded down $2.89 on Friday, hitting $151.74. 2,809,602 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,229,684. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $149.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.68. The company has a market cap of $50.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4,787.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $94,783,000 after buying an additional 616,860 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $183,263,000 after buying an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,007,528 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $291,734,000 after acquiring an additional 390,518 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.