Ross Stores (ROST) closed at $238.21 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.02% move from the prior day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.14% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.01%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.57%.
Heading into today, shares of the discount retailer had gained 2.95% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 0.45% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.25%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Ross Stores in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.9, up 21.79% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.1 billion, reflecting a 10.36% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
ROST's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.74 per share and revenue of $25.04 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +17.1% and +10.08%, respectively.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Ross Stores. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Ross Stores currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, Ross Stores is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 30.48. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 30.
We can additionally observe that ROST currently boasts a PEG ratio of 2.65. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Discount Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.65 at yesterday's closing price.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, finds itself in the top 9% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Ross Stores, Inc. (ROST): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).