Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.3675 per share by the apparel retailer on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend by an average of 67.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 22.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.47 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $131.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.06. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $100.66 and a 52 week high of $151.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.19 and its 200-day moving average is $137.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,257.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,219.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.