Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Truist Financial

Investment analysts at Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the apparel retailer’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 26.91% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on ROST. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.44.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $212.75 on Monday. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $231.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $218.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.21. The company has a market cap of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,147.67. This trade represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $868,360,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,167,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $570,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,611 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ross Stores

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.