TD Cowen Cuts Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $177.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target reduced by TD Cowen from $185.00 to $177.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.50.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.4 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $142.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.43.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PGGM Investments raised its position in Ross Stores by 724.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $68,106,000 after acquiring an additional 270,844 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Ross Stores by 47.5% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 19.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 30,919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after acquiring an additional 4,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 42.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $9,260,000 after buying an additional 18,685 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.