Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Telsey Advisory Group

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price cut by Telsey Advisory Group from $175.00 to $150.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.12.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ROST opened at $138.64 on Wednesday. Ross Stores has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $146.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.64.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,328 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,488 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,094,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,853 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 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.