Ross Stores

Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) stacks up well against the market, beating it by more than 30% over the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimates have been rising ahead of the company’s report date in a couple weeks.

Company Description

Ross Stores is the second largest off-price retailer with fiscal 2008 revenues of $6.5 billion. The company noted that, as of May 30, 2009, it operated 922 Ross Dress for Less® ("Ross") stores and 52 dd's DISCOUNTS® locations, compared to 863 Ross and 54 dd's DISCOUNTS locations at the end of the same period last year.

Ross Dress for Less offers in-season, name brand and designer apparel, accessories, footwear and home fashions for the entire family at everyday savings of 20% to 60%.

dd's DISCOUNTS features a more moderately-priced assortment of in-season, name brand and fashion apparel, accessories and footwear for the entire family at everyday savings of 20% to 70% as well as similar savings on a wide assortment of merchandise for the home.

Higher Forecasts

The company hiked its earnings guidance after posting strong sales for the month of June. Sales of $666 million came in 6% above the year-prior total, while same store sales increased 1% year-over-year.

Ross’ second-quarter earnings guidance of 73 to 75 cents per share was bumped up from a range of 60 to 63 cents.

The current second-quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents per share is above last month’s 62 cents.

For the current full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate climbed from $2.71 per share to $2.82 over the past month.

Ross Stores is scheduled to release results for the second quarter on August 20.

Favorable Industry Comparisons

The company boasts a solid balance sheet with no debt. Ross’ return on equity (ROE) of 32% doubles the industry average of 16%. The company’s net profit margin of 6% also doubles the industry average of 3%. Ross offers an industry-leading dividend yield of 1%.

Read the full analyst report on ROST