Critical Contrast: Ross Stores (ROST) & Its Peers

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Ross Stores to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ross Stores and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ross Stores	$24.51 billion	$2.15 billion	27.93
Ross Stores Competitors	$7.09 billion	$390.09 million	16.53

Ross Stores has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Ross Stores is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility and Risk

Ross Stores has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ross Stores’ rivals have a beta of 1.77, indicating that their average stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Ross Stores and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ross Stores	0	6	15	0	2.71
Ross Stores Competitors	3556	15323	21305	552	2.46

Ross Stores currently has a consensus target price of $263.76, indicating a potential upside of 14.34%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 11.66%. Given Ross Stores’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ross Stores is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Ross Stores and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ross Stores	10.85%	39.29%	15.79%
Ross Stores Competitors	-3.38%	-30.08%	3.22%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.9% of Ross Stores shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Ross Stores shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Ross Stores pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores pays out 21.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ross Stores has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Summary

Ross Stores beats its rivals on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Ross Stores, Inc. was incorporated in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.