Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.57-$1.64 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.67. Ross Stores also updated its FY25 guidance to $6.10-$6.17 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock traded up $3.64 during trading on Thursday, reaching $142.96. 5,128,003 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,292,243. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $47.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $145.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.44. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % 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 valued at $11,093,051. 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.