Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Releases Q2 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) updated its second quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.430-1.490 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.450. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.790-5.980 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ross Stores from $159.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $143.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $156.58.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $142.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.66. The stock has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $100.66 and a 1-year high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 9.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 24.79%.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,567,164.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,567,164.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.