Analysts Set Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) PT at $169.71

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $169.71.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $151.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $50.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.77 and its 200-day moving average is $143.26. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $109.19 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 24.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Ross Stores by 515.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,756,881 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $243,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,585 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 68.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after acquiring an additional 601,031 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after acquiring an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $263,675,000 after acquiring an additional 394,774 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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.