Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ROST. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $156.58.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $146.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.27. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $107.30 and a 1-year high of $151.12. The company has a market cap of $48.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 9.60%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $130,206.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,634.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in Ross Stores by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,131,529 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $312,756,000 after buying an additional 69,085 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,038,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Ross Stores by 271.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,194 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after buying an additional 30,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $442,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.