Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.10-$6.17 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.13. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.53. The stock has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ROST. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This represents a 57.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.