Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Releases FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.10-$6.17 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.13. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $142.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.43. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROST. Citigroup downgraded shares of 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% 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.