Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $222.31 and last traded at $221.0380, with a volume of 257528 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $216.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ROST. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $208.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.38. The company has a market capitalization of $71.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.92.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 36.70%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ross Stores

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.