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

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of 0.3675 per share by the apparel retailer on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend by an average of 67.5% annually over the last three years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 22.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.63 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 22.2%.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $150.53 on Monday. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $108.35 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $146.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.