JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $171.00 to $173.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $153.29 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $50.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 262.1% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.