Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Outperform Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $240.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ROST. Citigroup upped their price target on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research cut Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $208.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $215.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST traded down $0.64 on Thursday, hitting $215.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,439,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,024. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $199.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $124.07 and a 1-year high of $217.51. The stock has a market cap of $69.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 2,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.91, for a total transaction of $546,753.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 103,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,234,874.95. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.