Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $6.10-$6.17 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $6.13. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.50.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.6 %

ROST stock traded up $3.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $142.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,541,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,072. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $145.52 and its 200-day moving average is $144.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a market cap 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% 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.