Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $152.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $179.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.00.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.2 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $140.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $119.73 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.04.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.