Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ROST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.19.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $181.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $182.52. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.17 and its 200-day moving average is $148.49. The firm has a market cap of $59.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.03.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 37.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Equities analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the sale, the insider owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 48,720 shares of company stock worth $7,154,172 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 14.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,998,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $521,159,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after buying an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after buying an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.