Ross Stores’ (ROST) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a $165.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $178.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ROST. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $151.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.56.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after acquiring an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,454,000 after purchasing an additional 16,248 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 251.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 260,126 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $39,152,000 after buying an additional 186,161 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 24.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,307 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by 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.