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Ross Stores Boosts Guidance as June Comps Jump 7% (ROST)

By Dividend.com,  July 05, 2012, 08:55:44 AM EDT

Discount apparel and home goods retailer Ross Stores, Inc. ( ROST ) on Thursday posted better-than-expected June comparable sales and lifted its second quarter earnings outlook.

The Pleasanton, CA-based company reported a 7% rise in same-store sales, and a 12% jump in overall sales. Same-store sales are a key metric used to measure a retailer's performance, since they only take into account sales at stores open at least one year.

CEO Michael Balmuth commented, "We are pleased with our better-than-expected June sales. Our ongoing ability to deliver terrific name brand bargains to today's value-focused shoppers drove broad-based merchandise and geographic sales gains during the month."

Continuing, "Based on our above plan sales and gross margin performance in May and June, and our continued projection for a 2% to 3% increase in July same store sales, we now are forecasting earnings per share for the second quarter ending July 28, 2012 to be $.77 to $.78. This updated range compares to our previous guidance of $.72 to $.75 and EPS of $.64 in the second quarter of 2011." Wall Street analysts are currently looking for second quarter earnings of 77 cents per share.

Ross Stores shares $1.23, or +2%, in premarket trading Thursday.

The Bottom Line
Ross Stores currently offers a 0.89% dividend yield, based on Tuesday's closing price of $62.78 and the company's annualized dividend payout of 56 cents per 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 .




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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