TD Cowen Lowers Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Price Target to $177.00

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $185.00 to $177.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.39% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ROST. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.50.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $2.36 on Tuesday, hitting $138.94. The stock had a trading volume of 682,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,264,806. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $94,783,000 after acquiring an additional 616,860 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $183,263,000 after acquiring an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $263,675,000 after purchasing an additional 394,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.