Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $272.06

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $277.82.

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $260.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $262.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ross Stores from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO James Conroy sold 49,205 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.48, for a total value of $11,291,563.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,349 shares in the company, valued at $30,830,408.52. This trade represents a 26.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Brinkley sold 6,424 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.66, for a total transaction of $1,475,335.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,865,383.90. This trade represents a 11.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,615,682 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,408,148,000 after buying an additional 3,118,591 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $3,390,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 40.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,353 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,012 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $34,867,000. Finally, Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $2,559,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $237.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.35. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $157.73 and a 12-month high of $257.00. The firm has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 39.29%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.4450 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.55%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc is an off-price retailer operating Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS. Its stores offer name-brand and designer merchandise at discounted prices, with product selection and availability varying by location and season.

Ross Dress for Less sells apparel, footwear, accessories, home fashions, furnishings, and other merchandise for the whole family. dd’s DISCOUNTS offers a similar off-price assortment, including clothing, shoes, home goods, and related products.

The company traces its origins to a department store founded in San Bruno, California, in 1950.