Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $146.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $132.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $136.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.32. Ross Stores has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,101 shares of company stock valued at $2,300,905. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after buying an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 135,117 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth 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.