Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $186.4118.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.1%

ROST stock opened at $191.44 on Friday. Ross Stores has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $192.26. The stock has a market cap of $61.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $175.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Sunflower Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $41,326,000. Somerset Trust Co raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 164.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,212 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,563,000 after purchasing an additional 108,883 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 753,297 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $135,699,000 after buying an additional 302,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.