Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of 0.3675 per share by the apparel retailer on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%.

Ross Stores has raised its dividend payment by an average of 67.5% per year over the last three years. Ross Stores has a dividend payout ratio of 22.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.47 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.2%.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $139.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $145.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $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.