Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target Lowered to $165.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $175.00 to $165.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $140.87. The company had a trading volume of 611,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,262,027. The stock has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $146.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.04. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $119.73 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.