Traders Buy Large Volume of Ross Stores Put Options (NASDAQ:ROST)

Key Points

• Unusual bearish options activity: Traders purchased 6,107 Ross Stores put options, roughly 93% above the stock’s typical daily put volume.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Ross Stores has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 21 analysts, with an average price target of $244.76, despite Wells Fargo downgrading the shares to “equal weight.”
• Strong quarterly performance: Ross Stores beat earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $2.02 in EPS on $6.01 billion in revenue, with revenue up 20.6% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 6,107 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,170 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ross Stores from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $276.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.76.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ ROST traded down $2.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $242.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 372,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,688,888. The company has a market capitalization of $77.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores has a 52 week low of $143.39 and a 52 week high of $257.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $233.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.42.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ross Stores

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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