Evercore ISI Lowers Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $160.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $170.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.57% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Down 9.8%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $137.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $138.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,822 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,780,000 after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in Ross Stores by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,578 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,086 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Ross Stores by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,644 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,385 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. 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.