Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.570-1.640 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.670. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ROST stock opened at $146.09 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.53. The firm has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.