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• ROST 67% Rate It
• SSS 100% Rate It

Discount apparel retailer Ross Stores, Inc. ( ROST ) on Monday caught some continued bullish sentiment from analysts at Crowell, Weedon & Co.

The firm maintained its "Buy" rating on ROST while lifting its price target to $68.00. That new target suggests a 10% upside to the stock's Friday closing price of $61.59.

A Crowell Weedon analyst commented, "Ross reported excellent first quarter results, driven in large part, by better than expected same store sales ( SSS ) growth of 9%. Increased inventory turns and expense leverage drove a 70 basis point improvement in the company's operating margin. Management raised its earnings outlook for the year to a range of $3.26-$3.37, up from previous guidance of $3.12-$3.26. Additionally, the company increased its forecast of total potential store locations to 2,500, up from 2,000. We have increased our earnings outlook for the year to $3.35 and raised our price target on ROST shares to $68."

Ross shares were mostly flat in late morning trading Monday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Ross Stores ( ROST ) have a .91% dividend yield, based on Friday's closing stock price of $61.59. The stock has technical support in the $55-$56 price area. The stock is trading near the all-time high range of $63-$64 a share.

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 .

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