Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Ross Stores updated its Q2 guidance to $1.43-1.49 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $5.79-5.98 EPS.

Ross Stores Trading Up 7.8 %

ROST stock opened at $142.13 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 12 month low of $100.66 and a 12 month high of $151.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $136.85 and its 200 day moving average is $137.66. The company has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total value of $329,285.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.58.

Ross Stores declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.