Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Buy Rating from Guggenheim

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $180.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.21% from the company’s previous close.

ROST has been the topic of several other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.62. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 177,622 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,734,000 after buying an additional 10,175 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,806 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% 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 to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.