Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.570-1.640 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.670. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.100-6.170 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their price target on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. This trade represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.