Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Price

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the apparel retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.77% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ROST. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.24.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ROST traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.57. 1,182,415 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,404,237. The company has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.70.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $53,077,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,226,000. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,987 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Aurdan Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.