Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07, RTT News reports. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.53.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% 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.