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

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $185.00 to $177.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.50.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $142.64 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.43. The company has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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 return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.