Ross Stores, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 (NASDAQ:ROST)

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of 0.3675 per share by the apparel retailer on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend by an average of 67.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 22.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.47 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6 %

ROST traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.51. 3,559,115 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,122,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company's fifty day moving average price is $137.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.50. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.06. Ross Stores has a one year low of $100.66 and a one year high of $151.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.81 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at $468,219.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ross Stores news, Director Larree M. Renda sold 4,168 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.89, for a total value of $616,405.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,166 shares in the company, valued at $468,219.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 62,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,396,178 over the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ROST shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.11.

Ross Stores declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that allows the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel retailer to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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