Aug 20 (Reuters) - Off-price retailer Ross Stores Inc (ROST.O) posted a higher quarterly profit and raised its same-store sales outlook for the rest of the year, sending its shares up as much as 4 percent.

Ross Stores - www.rossstores.com

Ross Stores said its best performing merchandise categories in the quarter were dresses and shoes, while the strongest regions were Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States.

The company expects same-store sales to rise 5 percent to 6 percent in the third and fourth quarters, up from its previous view of 2 percent to 3 percent.

For the second quarter, net earnings rose to $103.4 million, or 82 cents a share, from $71.3 million, or 54 cents a share.

Sales rose 8 percent to $1.77 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 82 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $1.74 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of the company were trading up $1.54 at $46.18 Thursday 20 August morning on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Mihir Dalal in Bangalore, Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)