Ross Beats Wall Street Earnings, Revenue Expectations

Ross Stores Inc. said Tuesday it earned $264 million, or 66 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $249 million, or 60 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue reached $3.25 billion in the quarter, up from $3.03 billion, or 7%, from the year-ago period. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the clothing retailer to report earnings of 64 cents a share on sales of $3.21 billion. Ross also said its board of directors approved a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend to 13.5 cents a share, payable March 16 to shareholders of record as of March 14. Shares of Ross fell 1.8% in late trading Tuesday after ending the regular session up 2.3%.