Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $1.25 Million Stake in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,903 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dillard’s during the fourth quarter worth about $462,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 85.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 352,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,975,000 after buying an additional 25,212 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DDS shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Dillard’s in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Dillard’s from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

DDS opened at $404.49 on Tuesday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $282.24 and a 52-week high of $510.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 2.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.38.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $10.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.10 by $1.29. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 32.13% and a net margin of 9.55%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is presently 2.76%.

About Dillard’s

Dillard’s, Inc engages in the retail of fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings, and other consumer goods. It operates through the Retail Operations and Construction segments. The Retail Operations segment comprises sells cosmetics, ladies’ apparel, ladies’ accessories and lingerie, juniors’ and children’s apparel, men’s apparel and accessories, shoes, and home and furniture products.