Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) was downgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $152.00 target price on the apparel retailer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $179.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.22% from the company’s previous close.

ROST has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.63.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ROST opened at $140.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.08. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $119.73 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Ross Stores by 19.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 473 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 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.