Ross Stores (ROST) and Its Competitors Financial Analysis

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Ross Stores to similar businesses based on the strength of its profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.9% of Ross Stores shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Ross Stores shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Ross Stores and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ross Stores	0	6	15	0	2.71
Ross Stores Competitors	3526	15191	21155	548	2.46

Ross Stores currently has a consensus price target of $244.76, indicating a potential upside of 4.03%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 12.36%. Given Ross Stores’ peers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ross Stores has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Ross Stores and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ross Stores	9.74%	38.42%	15.18%
Ross Stores Competitors	-2.02%	-28.75%	3.24%

Dividends

Ross Stores pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ross Stores has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Ross Stores has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ross Stores’ peers have a beta of 1.78, indicating that their average stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ross Stores and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ross Stores	$22.75 billion	$2.15 billion	32.86
Ross Stores Competitors	$7.05 billion	$390.09 million	14.58

Ross Stores has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Ross Stores is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Ross Stores beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Ross Stores, Inc. was incorporated in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.