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

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.2941.

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of ROST opened at $214.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $124.07 and a 52 week high of $217.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $200.16 and a 200-day moving average of $178.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. The trade was a 2.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,079 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 17.6% during the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 12,671.4% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 894 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.