Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) to Hold

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.53.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $152.25 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.92 and a 200-day moving average of $142.98. The company has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.