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Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Upgrades Ross Stores to Buy; Sees Further Market Share Gains (ROST)

By Dividend.com,  August 20, 2012, 08:44:07 AM EDT

Discount apparel retailer Ross Stores, Inc. ( ROST ) on Monday caught a big upgrade from analysts at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

The firm boosted its rating on ROST from "Neutral" to "Buy" and lifted its price target from $68 to $80. That new target suggests a 15% upside to the stock's Friday closing price of $69.47.

Bank of America/Merrill Lynch noted it believes the company can continue to build market share. The analyst commented, "We are upgrading Ross to Buy from Neutral on expectations of continued comp outperformance, market share gains, square footage growth and shareholder returns. BofA Merrill Lynch's economists are cautious on 2H12 and we also expect consumers to remain challenged. Ross's success has been driven by traffic, and we expect this will continue. We view guidance for 2H12 as conservative and see the potential for upward revisions."

Ross Stores shares were mostly flat in premarket trading Monday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Ross Stores ( ROST ) have a .81% dividend yield, based on Friday's closing stock price of $69.47. The stock has technical support in the $62-$65 price area. The shares are trading near all-time highs.

Ross Stores, Inc. ( ROST ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks , as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here .




The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.


This article appears in: Investing, Stocks

Referenced Stocks: ROST



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