Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $146.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.00.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $130.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $135.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.03. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at $14,400,425.20. This trade represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 8.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $295,857,000 after purchasing an additional 151,255 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 91.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 3,664 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 11,067 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.5% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 153,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $23,116,000 after acquiring an additional 6,580 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently 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.