Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 28,394.2% in the fourth 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 14.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 103,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,730,000 after purchasing an additional 12,699 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 67,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,167,000 after purchasing an additional 14,718 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 52.8% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 66,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,875,000 after purchasing an additional 22,991 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 75.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,468 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dillard’s Stock Up 1.5%

DDS opened at $539.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $576.47 and its 200 day moving average is $618.49. Dillard’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $386.85 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.17.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.13 by $5.91. Dillard’s had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 31.89%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DDS shares. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $524.00 to $449.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dillard’s has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $521.33.

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.