Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly positive: Ross Stores has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 21 brokerages, with 15 buys, five holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $233.18, while several firms recently raised targets as high as $290.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Ross Stores reported adjusted EPS of $2.02 versus the $1.73 consensus and revenue of $6.01 billion, up 20.6% year over year. The company guided for fiscal 2026 EPS of $7.50–$7.74.
• Institutional ownership is high: Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company, with several funds increasing their positions during the second quarter. Ross also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.445, implying a 0.7% annualized yield.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $233.1765.

ROST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tema ETFs LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 9.5% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 8,328 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 30.8% during the second quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 13,291 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Ross Stores by 28.9% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 217,622 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $46,321,000 after acquiring an additional 48,775 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in Ross Stores by 8.3% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,657 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 19.4% in the second quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $251.96 on Thursday. Ross Stores has a 1 year low of $134.37 and a 1 year high of $255.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $80.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $228.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.33.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 24.86%.

About Ross Stores

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.

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