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

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $185.00 to $177.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ROST. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $139.32 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.44. The stock has a market cap of $46.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after buying an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after purchasing an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after purchasing an additional 316,652 shares during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.