Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Given New $156.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 13.40% from the stock’s current price.

ROST has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.24.

Ross Stores Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ROST stock traded up $1.60 on Wednesday, reaching $137.57. 1,182,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,404,237. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,328 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 22.2% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,488 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,094,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,853 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.