Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded up $3.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $142.96. The stock had a trading volume of 5,541,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,072. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $47.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.44.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, 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 90 days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Company 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.