Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $521.3333.

DDS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

NYSE:DDS opened at $587.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.15. Dillard’s has a fifty-two week low of $449.64 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $566.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $591.22.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.13 by $5.91. Dillard’s had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 31.43%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dillard’s will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.85%.

Insider Activity at Dillard’s

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total value of $243,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,150 shares in the company, valued at $6,183,177. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 34.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dillard’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 28,394.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 18.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 142,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,343,000 after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,686,000 after purchasing an additional 12,863 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Dillard’s by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 73,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,652,000 after buying an additional 7,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in Dillard’s by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 67,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,167,000 after buying an additional 14,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Company Profile

Dillard’s, Inc (NYSE:DDS), headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a U.S.-based department store chain founded by William T. Dillard in 1938. Over more than eight decades of operation, the company has grown from a single store in Nashville, Arkansas, to a prominent retailer with a national footprint. Dillard’s equity is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DDS.

The company operates approximately 280 departmental stores across 29 states, offering a broad assortment of merchandise that includes men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and home furnishings.