Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ROST. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $156.58.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $148.74 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $49.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.21. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $107.30 and a fifty-two week high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion during 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 revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.79%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,634.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,916,192 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,243,740,000 after purchasing an additional 346,474 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,931,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $682,511,000 after acquiring an additional 161,202 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 14.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $523,185,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,085,590 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $452,841,000 after acquiring an additional 78,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.