Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.34% and a net margin of 8.75%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ross Stores updated its Q4 guidance to $1.56-1.62 EPS and its Q4 2023 guidance to $1.56-$1.62 EPS.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $128.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $131.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.42.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 4th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 26.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total transaction of $3,153,095.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 67,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,146,520.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ross Stores news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 25,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.53, for a total transaction of $3,153,095.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 67,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,146,520.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael K. Kobayashi sold 20,749 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.73, for a total value of $2,318,285.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 71,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,978,974.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,948 shares of company stock worth $10,643,727. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,488,582,000 after acquiring an additional 137,952 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,193,866 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,049,248,000 after purchasing an additional 507,572 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 31.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,938,572 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $890,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,558,634 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $845,418,000 after purchasing an additional 197,259 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 14.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $600,541,000 after purchasing an additional 662,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.79% 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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.