Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $169.06.

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,910 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 19.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Alhambra Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $139.73 on Thursday. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. 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 capitalization of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.85.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

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.