Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues Q2 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.43-1.49 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.46. Ross Stores also updated its FY25 guidance to $5.79-5.98 EPS.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $142.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.06. Ross Stores has a one year low of $100.66 and a one year high of $151.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $136.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.66. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ROST. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $156.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. 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.