BMO Capital Markets Boosts Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $138.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $127.00 to $138.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores from an accumulate rating to a buy rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $129.38.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $129.43 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $131.31. The company has a market cap of $44.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.66.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The apparel retailer reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.11. Ross Stores had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 39.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 5th will be paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 4th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total value of $3,153,095.85. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 67,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,146,520.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 20,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.73, for a total value of $2,318,285.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,413 shares in the company, valued at $7,978,974.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total value of $3,153,095.85. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 67,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,146,520.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 89,948 shares of company stock worth $10,643,727. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,488,582,000 after purchasing an additional 137,952 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,193,866 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,049,248,000 after acquiring an additional 507,572 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 31.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,938,572 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $890,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 2.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,558,634 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $845,418,000 after purchasing an additional 197,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,541,000 after purchasing an additional 662,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.79% of the company’s stock.

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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.