Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Raised to $173.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $171.00 to $173.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ROST. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. 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. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $145.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.70. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,772 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 177,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,734,000 after acquiring an additional 10,175 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,806 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.