Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Free Report) is one of 285 publicly-traded companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Ross Stores to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Ross Stores and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ross Stores | 0 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 2.76 |
| Ross Stores Competitors | 3528 | 15223 | 21186 | 548 | 2.46 |
Ross Stores presently has a consensus target price of $244.76, indicating a potential upside of 6.22%. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 12.79%. Given Ross Stores’ peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ross Stores has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Net Income | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ross Stores | $22.75 billion | $2.15 billion | 32.18 |
| Ross Stores Competitors | $7.02 billion | $390.09 million | 16.06 |
Ross Stores has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Ross Stores is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.9% of Ross Stores shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Ross Stores shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Ross Stores has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ross Stores’ peers have a beta of 1.78, indicating that their average share price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Ross Stores pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Ross Stores has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares Ross Stores and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ross Stores | 9.74% | 38.42% | 15.18% |
| Ross Stores Competitors | -2.02% | -28.83% | 3.24% |
Summary
Ross Stores beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.
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. Ross Stores, Inc. was incorporated in 1957 and is headquartered in Dublin, California.
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