Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on DDS. Zacks Research raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dillard’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

DDS traded up $13.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $524.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 87,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,079. Dillard’s has a fifty-two week low of $424.86 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $562.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $598.16.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total value of $243,672.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,183,177. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position 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 valued at $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,598,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Dillard’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,813,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Dillard’s by 1,331.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 40,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,293,000 after purchasing an additional 37,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Dillard’s by 464.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 38,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,846,000 after buying an additional 31,929 shares in the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.