Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $238.34 and last traded at $237.2940, with a volume of 496359 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $231.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Up 3.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $76.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.63.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $868,360,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,167,479 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $570,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143,611 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.