Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 on September 30th

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 21st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3675 per share by the apparel retailer on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th.

Ross Stores has raised its dividend by an average of 67.5% per year over the last three years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 21.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.65 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 22.1%.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $150.53 on Friday. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $108.35 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $146.10 and its 200 day moving average is $142.83.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores will post 6.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $7,524,868.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,003,532.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.71.

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.