Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $186.4118.

Several brokerages have commented on ROST. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 target price on Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, December 1st.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $189.27 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $194.92. The firm has a market cap of $61.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,179 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth $222,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 133,434 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $24,037,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.