Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Lowered to $156.00 at Barclays

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $157.00 to $156.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $161.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Trading Down 9.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $137.26 on Friday. Ross Stores has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.94.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after acquiring an additional 135,117 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after acquiring an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $649,318,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ross Stores

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.