Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.570-1.640 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.670. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded up $3.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $142.96. 5,541,199 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,294,072. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $47.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.50.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.