Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $238.34 and last traded at $237.2940, with a volume of 496359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $224.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.63. The company has a market capitalization of $76.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 150,491 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $19,200,000 after buying an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

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.