Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $237.41 and last traded at $233.47, with a volume of 2914235 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $234.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ross Stores from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $868,360,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,167,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $570,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143,611 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.