JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $171.00 to $173.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.2 %

ROST stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day moving average of $144.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 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. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 19.1% in the 3rd 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 stake in Ross Stores by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.