Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $220.58 and last traded at $219.9530, with a volume of 252685 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $216.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group set a $208.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $70.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $202.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.37.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 49.91% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 26.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,974,551 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,782,873,000 after buying an additional 61,168 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,487,720,000 after acquiring an additional 180,182 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $979,384,000 after acquiring an additional 79,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $868,360,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $605,704,000 after acquiring an additional 426,370 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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.