Evercore ISI Cuts Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $170.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective cut by Evercore ISI from $175.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.07.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $135.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $44.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.37 and a 200-day moving average of $147.49.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 152.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. 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.