Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $521.3333.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DDS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 10,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,183,177. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dillard’s

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised 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 acquiring an additional 225,734 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Dillard’s in the fourth quarter valued at $36,598,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Dillard’s in the third quarter worth $31,813,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Dillard’s by 1,331.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 40,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,293,000 after purchasing an additional 37,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its stake in Dillard’s by 464.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 38,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,846,000 after purchasing an additional 31,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DDS traded up $13.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $524.14. The company had a trading volume of 87,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,079. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $562.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $598.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37. Dillard’s has a 12 month low of $424.86 and a 12 month high of $741.97.

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. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 31.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dillard’s will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 2.85%.

About Dillard’s

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.