Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

ROST has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.58.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $148.46 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.21. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $107.30 and a twelve month high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 9.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $130,206.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,634.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,969 shares of company stock worth $2,790,407 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Railway Pension Investments Ltd bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,131,529 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $312,756,000 after purchasing an additional 69,085 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 271.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,194 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 30,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter worth $442,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.