State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 90,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $13,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Hahn Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth about $269,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Ross Stores by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $135.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $146.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.