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

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.790-5.980 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 5.920. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Ross Stores also updated its Q2 2024 guidance to 1.430-1.490 EPS.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $142.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm 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 50 day moving average price of $136.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.66. Ross Stores has a 1-year low of $100.66 and a 1-year high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $156.58.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,616,788.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 2,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.38, for a total transaction of $329,285.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,257.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.