Ross Stores’ (ROST) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $165.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $178.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0 %

ROST opened at $154.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.66.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Ross Stores by 137.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 59.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after purchasing an additional 469,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,007,528 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $291,734,000 after purchasing an additional 390,518 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.