Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price trimmed by Evercore ISI from $175.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the apparel retailer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on ROST. Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.12.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0 %

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

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,077,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,226,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,987 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Aurdan Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,516,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.