Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 18th

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 4th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.405 per share by the apparel retailer on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a 10.2% increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 20.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.47 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $138.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.03 and a 200 day moving average of $147.64.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.12.

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.