Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Cut to $140.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $140.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.12.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $138.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $146.03 and its 200 day moving average is $147.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,995,760 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after buying an additional 67,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 135,117 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $649,318,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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.