Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 6.100-6.170 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 6.140. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its FY25 guidance to $6.10-$6.17 EPS.

Ross Stores Stock Up 7.3 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $153.37 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.43. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $50.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROST. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s 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 owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently 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.